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diff --git a/34567-h/34567-h.htm b/34567-h/34567-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..936711c --- /dev/null +++ b/34567-h/34567-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,19116 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Paradise Bend, by William Patterson White +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +H4.h4center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Paradise Bend, by William Patterson White + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Paradise Bend + +Author: William Patterson White + +Illustrator: Ralph Pallen Coleman + +Release Date: December 4, 2010 [EBook #34567] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARADISE BEND *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT=""<I>'Tom!' she breathed. 'Tom! you do think I betrayed you after all...'</I>"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="422" HEIGHT="672"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 422px"> +"<I>'Tom!' she breathed. 'Tom! you do think I betrayed you after all...'</I>" +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +PARADISE BEND +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H4> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WILLIAM PATTERSON WHITE +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Author of +<BR> +"<I>Hidden Trails,</I>" "<I>The Owner of the Lazy D,</I>" "<I>Lynch Lawyers</I>." +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +FRONTISPIECE BY +<BR> +RALPH PALLEN COLEMAN +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A. L. BURT COMPANY +<BR> +Publishers New York +</H3> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Published by arrangement with Doubleday, Page & Company +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY +<BR> +DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY +<BR> +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF +<BR> +TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, +<BR> +INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TO MY CAPE MAY COUSINS +<BR> +DOROTHY, BESS, AND MARION +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">Tom Loudon</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">At the Bar S</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">Shots on Pack-Saddle</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">The Skinned Cattle</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">Their Own Deceivings</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">Pestilent Fellows</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">Paradise Bend</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">The Amazing Mackenzie</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">Authors of Confusion</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">The Horse Thief</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">Rocket</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">Scotty Advises</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">The Dance</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">A Determined Woman</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">A Hidden Trail</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">Kate Is Helpful</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">Mrs. Burr Relieves Her Mind</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">A Murder and a Killing</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">Marysville</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">The Railroad Corral</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">The Judge's Office</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">Under the Ridge</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">The Smoke of Conflict</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">Before the Dawn</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">Trail's End</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +PARADISE BEND +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +TOM LOUDON +</H4> + +<P> +"And don't forget that ribbon!" called Kate Saltoun from the +ranch-house door. "And don't lose the sample!" +</P> + +<P> +"I won't!" shouted Tom Loudon, turning in his saddle. "I'll get her +just like you said! Don't you worry any!" +</P> + +<P> +He waved his hat to Kate, faced about, and put his horse to a lope. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it likely now I'd forget?" he muttered. "We'd do more'n that for +her, wouldn't we, fellah?" +</P> + +<P> +The horse, a long-legged chestnut named Ranger, turned back one ear. +He was accustomed to being questioned, was Ranger. Tom Loudon loved +him. He had bought him a five-year-old from the 88 ranch the year +before, and he would allow no one save Kate Saltoun to ride him. For +the sun and the moon, in the estimation of Tom Loudon, rose and set in +the black eyes of Kate Saltoun, the exceedingly handsome daughter of +John T. Saltoun, the owner of the great Bar S ranch. +</P> + +<P> +This day Loudon was riding into Farewell for the ranch mail, and Kate +had commissioned him to do an errand for her. To serve his lady was +joy to Loudon. He did not believe that she was aware of his state of +mind. A flirt was Kate, and a charming one. She played with a man as +a cat plays with a mouse. At which pleasant sport Kate was an adept. +But Loudon realized nothing of all this. Shrewd and penetrative in his +business, where Kate was concerned he saw nothing but the obvious. +</P> + +<P> +Where the trail snaked over Indian Ridge, ten miles from the ranch +house, Loudon pulled up in front of a lone pine tree. On the trunk of +the pine a notice was tacked. Which notice set forth briefly that two +hundred dollars' reward was offered for the person or persons of the +unknown miscreant or miscreants who were depleting the herds of the Bar +S and the Cross-in-a-box outfits. It was signed by Sheriff Block. +</P> + +<P> +Who the miscreants were no one knew with certainty. But strange tales +were told of the 88 punchers. It was whispered that they carried +running-irons on their saddles. Certainly they displayed, when riding +the range, a marked aversion to the company of men from the other +ranches. +</P> + +<P> +The remains of small fires had been found time and again in draws +bordering the 88 range, and once a fire-marked cinch-ring had been +picked up. As the jimmy and bunch of skeleton keys in a man's pocket +so are the running-iron and the extra cinch-ring under a puncher's +saddle-skirts. They indicate a criminal tendency; specifically, in the +latter case, a whole-hearted willingness to brand the cattle of one's +neighbour. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon read the notice of reward, slow contempt curling his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Signs," he said, gently. "Signs——! What we need is +Vigilantes—Vigilantes an' a bale o' rope!" +</P> + +<P> +He turned in his saddle and looked back over the way he had come. +Fifty miles to the south the Frying Pan Mountains lay in a cool, blue, +tumbling line. +</P> + +<P> +From where Loudon sat on his horse to the Frying Pans stretched the +rolling range, cut by a thin, kinked strip of cottonwoods marking the +course of a wandering river, pockmarked with draws and shallow basins, +blotched with clumps of pine and tamarack, and humped with knolls and +sprawling hills. The meandering stream was the Lazy, and all the land +in sight, and beyond for that matter, was the famous Lazy River country +held by three great ranches, the Cross-in-a-box, the Bar S, and the 88. +</P> + +<P> +Of these the 88 was the largest and the farthest west of the three, its +eastern line running along the high-bluffed banks of the Falling Horse, +which emptied into the Lazy some ten miles from the 88 ranch house. +East of the 88 lay the Bar S, and east of the Bar S was the +Cross-in-a-box. The two latter ranches owned the better grazing, the +more broken country lying within the borders of the 88 ranch. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond the 88 range, across the Falling Horse, were the Three Sisters +Mountains, a wild and jumbled tangle of peaks and narrow valleys where +the hunter and the bear and the mountain lion lived and had their +beings. East of the Lazy River country lay the Double Diamond A and +the Hog-pen outfits; north and south stretched other ranches, but all +the ranges ended where the Three Sisters began. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon swung his gaze westward, then slowly his eyes slid around and +fastened on the little brown dots that were the ranch buildings of the +Bar S. He shook his head gently and sighed helplessly. +</P> + +<P> +He was thinking partly of Kate and partly of her father, the gray old +man who owned the Bar S and would believe nothing evil of his +neighbours, the hard-riding 88 boys. Loudon was morally certain that +forty cows within the last three months had transferred their +allegiance from Bar S to 88, and he had hinted as much to Mr. Saltoun. +But the latter had laughed him to scorn and insisted that only a few +cows had been taken and that the lifting was the work of independent +rustlers, or perhaps of one of the other ranches. Nevertheless, in +response to the repeated urging of his foreman, Bill Rainey, Mr. +Saltoun had joined with the Cross-in-a-box in offering a reward for the +rustlers. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon was well aware of the reason for Mr. Saltoun's fatuous +blindness. That reason was Sam Blakely, the 88 manager, who came often +to the Bar S ranch and spent many hours in the company of Kate. Mr. +Saltoun did not believe that a dog would bite the hand that fed him. +But it all depends on the breed of dog. And Blakely was the wrong +breed. +</P> + +<P> +"He shore is a pup," Loudon said, softly, "an' yellow at that. He'd +steal the moccasins off a dead Injun. An' Block would help him, the +cow-thief." +</P> + +<P> +Then, being young, Loudon practised the road-agent's spin on the notice +of reward tacked on the pine tree, and planted three accurate bullets +in the same spot. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, you! What yuh doin'?" rasped a grating voice in Loudon's +immediate rear. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon turned an unhurried head. Ten yards distant a tall man, +black-bearded, of a disagreeable cast of countenance, was leaning +forward across an outcrop. +</P> + +<P> +"I asked yuh what yuh was doin'?" repeated the peevish individual, +glaring at Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"I heard yuh the first time, Sheriff," replied Loudon, placidly. "I +was just figurin' whether to tell yuh I was shoein' a horse or catchin' +butterflies. Which answer would yuh like best?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh think yo're mighty funny, Tom Loudon, but I tell yuh flat if yuh +don't go slow 'round here I'll find a quick way o' knockin' yore horns +off." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh don't say. When yuh goin' to begin?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon beamed upon the sheriff, his gun held with studied carelessness. +Sheriff Block walked from behind his breastwork, his eyes watchful, his +thumbs carefully hooked in the armholes of his vest. +</P> + +<P> +"That notice ain't no target," he grunted, halting beside the pine tree. +</P> + +<P> +"It is now," remarked Loudon, genially. +</P> + +<P> +"It won't be no more." +</P> + +<P> +"O' course not, Sheriff. I wouldn't think o' shootin' at it if you say +no. It's a right pretty piece o' readin'. Did yuh write it all +yoreself?" +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff's eyes became suddenly blank and fixed. His right thumb +slowly unhooked. +</P> + +<P> +"I only fired three shots," observed Loudon, the muzzle of his +six-shooter bearing on the pit of the sheriff's stomach. +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff's right thumb rehooked itself hurriedly. His frame relaxed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh shouldn't get mad over a joke," continued Loudon. "It's plumb +foolish. Been hidin' behind that rock long?" +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't hidin' behind it. I was down in the draw, an' I seen you +a-readin' the notice, an' I come up." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's gray eyes twinkled. He knew that the sheriff lied. He knew +that Block had heard his comments on Blakely and his own worshipful +person, but evidently the sheriff did not consider this an opportune +time for taking umbrage. +</P> + +<P> +"So yuh come up, did yuh? Guess yuh thought it was one o' the rustlers +driftin' in to see what reward was out for him, didn't yuh? But don't +get downhearted. Maybe one'll come siftin' along yet. Why don't yuh +camp here, Sheriff? It'll be easier than ridin' the range for 'em, an' +a heap healthier. Now, Sheriff, remember what I said about gettin' +red-headed. Say, between friends, an' I won't tell even the little +hoss, who do you guess is doin' the rustlin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"If I knowed," growled the sheriff, "his name'd be wrote on the notice." +</P> + +<P> +"Would it? I was just wonderin'. Habit I got." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you fret none about them rustlers. I'll get 'em if it takes ten +years." +</P> + +<P> +"Make it twenty, Sheriff. They'll keep right on electin' yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Do yuh mean to say the rustlers elected me?" exploded the sheriff. +</P> + +<P> +"O' course not," chided Loudon, gently. "Now what made yuh think I +meant that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yuh said——" began the sheriff. +</P> + +<P> +"I said 'they,'" interrupted Loudon. "You said 'rustlers'. Stay in +the saddle, Sheriff. You'll stub your toe sometime if yuh keep on +a-travellin' one jump ahead o' the hoss." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're —— smart for a cow-punch." +</P> + +<P> +"It is a cinch to fool most of 'em, ain't it—especially when yo're a +sheriff?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's eyes were wide open and child-like in their gray blandness. +But the sheriff did not mistake his man. Block knew that if his hand +dropped, a bullet would neatly perforate his abdomen. The sheriff was +not a coward, but he had sense enough not to force an issue. He could +afford to wait. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll see yuh again," said the sheriff, harshly, and strode diagonally +down the slope. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Loudon watched him until he vanished among the pines a hundred yards +below. Then Loudon touched his horse with the spur and rode on, chin +on shoulder, hands busy reloading his six-shooter. Three minutes later +Loudon saw the sheriff, mounted on his big black stallion, issue from +the wood. The great horse scrambled up the hillside, gained the trail, +and headed south. +</P> + +<P> +"Bet he's goin' to the 88," said Loudon. "I'd give ten dollars to know +what Block was roostin' behind that rock for. Gawd! I shore would +admire to be Sheriff o' Fort Creek County for thirty days!" +</P> + +<P> +Eleven miles from Indian Ridge he topped a rise and saw below him +Farewell's straggly street, flanked by several false-fronted saloons, +two stores, one hotel leaning slightly askew, and a few unkempt houses, +the whole encircled by the twinkling pickets of innumerable bottles and +tin cans. +</P> + +<P> +He rode along the street, fetlock-deep in dust, and stopped at the +hotel corral. Freeing Ranger of the saddle and bridle, he opened the +gate and slapped the chestnut on the hip. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on in, fellah," said Loudon. "Yore dinner's a-comin'." +</P> + +<P> +He walked around to the front of the hotel. Under the wooden awning a +beefy, red-faced citizen was dozing in a chair tilted back against the +wall. Loudon tapped the snoring individual on the shoulder. The +sleeper awoke gaspingly, his eyes winking. The chair settled on four +legs with a crash. +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy, Bill," said Loudon, gravely. +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy, Tom," gurgled the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Hoss in the corral an' me here, Bill. Feeds for two." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure. We've done et, but you go in an' holler for Lize. She'll fix +you up." +</P> + +<P> +The fat landlord waddled stableward and Loudon entered the hotel. A +partition that did not reach the ceiling divided the sleeping +apartments from the dining room. Carelessly hanging over the partition +were two shirts and someone's chaps. +</P> + +<P> +The whole floor slanted, for, as has been said, the hotel leaned +sidewise. The long table in the dining room, covered with cracked and +scaling oilcloth, was held unsteadily upright by three legs and a +cracker box. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, quite untouched by this scene of shiftlessness, hooked out a +chair with his foot, dropped his hat on the floor, and sat down. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mis' Lainey!" he called. +</P> + +<P> +A female voice, somewhat softened by distance and a closed door, +instantly began to make oration to the effect that if any lazy chunker +of a puncher thought he was to eat any food he was very much mistaken. +</P> + +<P> +The door banged open. A slatternly, scrawny woman appeared in the +doorway. She was still talking. But the clacking tongue changed its +tone abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's you, Tom Loudon!" exclaimed the lean woman. "How are yuh, +anyway? I'm shore glad to see yuh. I thought yuh was one o' them +rousy fellers, an' I wouldn't rustle no more chuck this noon for the +likes o' them, not if they was starvin' an' their tongues was hangin' +out a foot. But yo're different, an' I ain't never forgot the time you +rode thirty mile for a doc when my young one was due to cash. No, you +bet I ain't! Now don't you say nothin'. You jest set right patient a +short spell an' I'll rustle——" +</P> + +<P> +The door swung shut, and the remainder of the sentence was lost in a +muffled din of pans. Loudon winked at the closed door and grinned. +</P> + +<P> +He had known the waspish Mrs. Lainey and her paunchy husband since that +day when, newly come to the Lazy River country, he had met them, their +buckboard wrecked by a runaway and their one child apparently dying of +internal injuries. Though Loudon always minimized what he had done, +Mrs. Lainey and her husband did not. And they were not folk whose +memories are short. +</P> + +<P> +In less than twenty minutes Mrs. Lainey brought in a steak, fried +potatoes, and coffee. The steak was fairly tough, so were the +potatoes, and the coffee required a copious quantity of condensed milk +to render it drinkable. But Loudon ate with a rider's appetite. Mrs. +Lainey, arms folded in her apron, leaned against the doorjamb, and +regaled him with the news of Farewell. +</P> + +<P> +"Injun Joe got drunk las' week an' tried to hogtie Riley's bear. It +wasn't hardly worth while buryin' Joe, but they done it. Mis' +Stonestreet has a new baby. This one makes the twelfth. Yep, day +before yestiddy. Charley's so proud over it he ain't been sober since. +Slep' in the waterin'-trough las' night, so he did, an' this mornin' he +was drunk as ever. But he never did do things by halves, that Charley +Stonestreet. Ain't the heat awful? Yep, it's worse'n that. Did yuh +hear about——" +</P> + +<P> +Poor, good-hearted Mrs. Lainey. With her, speech was a disease. +Loudon ate as hurriedly as he could, and fled to the sidewalk. Bill +Lainey, who had fallen asleep again, roused sufficiently to accept six +bits. +</P> + +<P> +"Mighty drowsy weather, Tom," he mumbled. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be," said Loudon. "So long." +</P> + +<P> +Leaving the sleepy Lainey to resume his favourite occupation, Loudon +walked away. Save Lainey, no human beings were visible on the glaring +street. In front of the Palace Saloon two cow-ponies drooped. Near +the postoffice stood another, bearing on its hip the Cross-in-a-box +brand. +</P> + +<P> +From the door of the postoffice issued the loud and cheerful tones of a +voice whose owner was well pleased with the world at large. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess I'll get that ribbon first," said Loudon to himself, and +promptly walked behind the postoffice. +</P> + +<P> +He had recognized the cheerful voice. It was that of his friend, +Johnny Ramsay, who punched cows for the Cross-in-a-box outfit. And not +for a month's pay would Loudon have had Johnny Ramsay see him +purchasing yards of red ribbon. Ramsay's sense of humour was too well +developed. +</P> + +<P> +When four houses intervened between himself and the postoffice Loudon +returned to the street and entered the Blue Pigeon Store. Compared +with most Western frontier stores the Blue Pigeon was compactly neat. +A broad counter fenced off three sides of the store proper. +</P> + +<P> +Behind the counter lines of packed shelves lined the walls from floor +to ceiling. Between the counter and the shelves knotted ropes, a long +arm's-length apart, depended from the rafters. Above the +canvas-curtained doorway in the rear hung the model of a black-hulled, +slim-sparred clipper. +</P> + +<P> +At the jingle of Loudon's spurs on the floor the canvas curtain was +pushed aside, and the proprietor shuffled and thumped, for his left leg +was of wood, into the store. He was a red-headed man, was Mike Flynn, +the proprietor, barrel-chested, hairy-armed, and even the backs of his +ham-like hands were tattooed. +</P> + +<P> +"Good aft'noon to yuh, Tom," said Mike Flynn. "'Tis a fine day—hot, +mabbe, but I've seen worse in the Horse Latitudes. An' what is it the +day?" +</P> + +<P> +"Red ribbon, Mike," replied Loudon, devoutly thankful that no other +customer was in the store. +</P> + +<P> +Mike glanced at the sample in Tom Loudon's hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, an' I have that same, width an' all," he said, and forthwith +seizing one of the knotted ropes he pulled himself hand over hand to +the top shelf. +</P> + +<P> +Hanging by one hand he fumbled a moment, then lowered himself to the +floor. +</P> + +<P> +"An' here yuh are!" he exclaimed. "The finest ribbon that ever come +West. Matches the bit yuh have like a twin brother. One dollar two +bits a yard." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll take five yards." +</P> + +<P> +"Won't yuh be needin' a new necktie now?" inquired Mike Flynn, expertly +measuring off the ribbon. "I've a fine lot in—grane ones, an' blue +ones, an' purple ones wit' white spots, an' some black ones wit' red +an' yaller figgers, not to spake o' some yaller ones wit' vi'let +horseshoes. Very fancy, thim last. God be with the ould days! Time +was when I'd not have touched yaller save wit' me foot, but 'tis so +long since I've hove a brick at an Orangeman that the ould feelin' +ain't near so strong as it was. An' here's the ribbon, Tom. About +them neckties now. They're worth seein'. One minute an' I'll delight +yore eyes." +</P> + +<P> +Rapidly Mike Flynn stumped around to the other side of the room, pulled +down several long boxes and deftly laid them, covers off, on the +counter. Loudon did need a new necktie. What man in love does not? +He passed over the yellow ones with violet horseshoes so strongly +recommended by Mike Flynn, and bought one of green silk. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're a lad after me own heart, Tom Loudon," said Mike Flynn, wrapping +the necktie. "Grane's best when all's said an' done. The colour of +ould Ireland, God bless her. An' here comes Johnny Ramsay." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon hastily stuffed his purchases inside his flannel shirt, and in a +careless tone asked for a box of forty-five calibre cartridges. He +turned just in time to ward off the wild rush of Johnny Ramsay, who +endeavoured to seize him by the belt and waltz him round the store. +</P> + +<P> +"Wow! Wow!" yelled Johnny. "How's Tommy? How's the boy? Allemane +left, you old bronc buster!" +</P> + +<P> +"Quit it, you idjit!" bawled Loudon, the crushing of ribbon and necktie +being imminent. +</P> + +<P> +Ramsay stepped back and prodded Loudon's breast with an inquiring +finger. +</P> + +<P> +"Paddin'," he said, solemnly. "Tryin' to give yoreself a chest, ain't +yuh, you old bean-pole? Ouch!" +</P> + +<P> +For Loudon had dug a hard knuckle into his friend's left side, and it +was Ramsay's turn to yell. From behind the counter Mike Flynn beamed +upon them. He liked them well, these careless youngsters of the range, +and their antics were a source of never-ending amusement. +</P> + +<P> +Entered then a tall, lean man with black hair, and a face the good +looks of which were somewhat marred by a thin-lipped mouth and sharp, +sinister eyes. But for all that Sam Blakely, the manager of the 88 +ranch, was a very handsome man. He nodded to the three, his lips +parting over white teeth, and asked Mike Flynn for a rope. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's yore cartridges, Tom," called Mike, and turned to the rear of +the store. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon picked up his box of cartridges, stuffing them into a pocket in +his chaps. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's irrigate," he said to Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +"In a minute," replied his friend. "I want some cartridges my own +self." +</P> + +<P> +The two sat down on the counter to wait. Blakely strolled across to +the open boxes of neckties. +</P> + +<P> +"Cravats," he sneered, fingering them. +</P> + +<P> +"An' —— fine ones!" exclaimed Mike Flynn, slamming down the coil of +rope on the counter. "Thim yaller ones wit' vi'let spots now, yuh +couldn't beat 'em in New York. An' the grand grane ones. Ain't they +the little beauts? I just sold one to Tom Loudon." +</P> + +<P> +"Green shore does suit some people," said the 88 manager, coldly. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon felt Johnny Ramsay stiffen beside him. But Loudon merely smiled +a slow, pleasant smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Hirin' any new men, Sam?" he inquired, softly, his right hand cuddling +close to his belt. +</P> + +<P> +"What do yuh want to know for?" demanded Blakely, wheeling. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yuh see, I was thinkin' o' quittin' the Bar S, an' I'd sort o' +like to get with a good, progressive outfit, one that don't miss any +chances." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's voice was clear and incisive. Each word fell with the +precision of a pebble falling into a well. Mike Flynn backed swiftly +out of range. +</P> + +<P> +"What do yuh mean by that?" demanded Blakely, his gaze level. +</P> + +<P> +"What I said," replied Loudon, staring into the other's sinister black +eyes. "I shore do hate to translate my words." +</P> + +<P> +For a long minute the two men gazed steadily at each other. Neither +made a move. Blakely's hand hung at his side. Loudon's hand had not +yet touched his gun-butt. But Blakely could not know that, for +Loudon's crossed knees concealed the position of his hand. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon was giving Blakely an even chance. He knew that Blakely was +quick on the draw, but he believed that he himself was quicker. +Blakely evidently thought, so too, for suddenly he grunted and turned +his back on Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" inquired Blakely, pointing a finger at one end of the +rope. +</P> + +<P> +"What—oh, that!" exclaimed Mike. "Sure, that's what a seaman calls +whippin'. The holdfast was missin', an' the rope was beginning' to +unlay, so I whipped the end of it. 'Twill keep the rope from frayin' +out, do yuh mind. An' it's the last rope I have in stock, too." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, watching Blakely's hands, saw that what Mike Flynn called +whipping was whip-cord lapped tightly a dozen turns or so round the end +of the rope. Blakely, without another word, paid for the rope, picked +it up, and departed, head high, sublimely indifferent to the presence +of Loudon. Mike Flynn heaved a heartfelt sigh of relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Praise be!" he ejaculated. "I'd thought to lose a customer a minute +back." Then, recollecting himself, he added quickly, "What was that +yuh said about cartridges, Johnny?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AT THE BAR S +</H4> + +<P> +"That's a good-lookin' goat," observed cheerful Johnny +Ramsay, watching Loudon throw the saddle on the +long-legged chestnut. "All he needs is horns an' a +<I>maa-a-a</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"What particular tune can you play on it?" retorted +Loudon, passing the cinch-strap. +</P> + +<P> +"On what?" inquired Ramsay, incautiously. +</P> + +<P> +"On that four-legged accordeon yo're straddlin'." +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't say nothin' about no accordeons—not if I was +abusin' a poor billy by cinchin' a hull on his back. Honest, +Tommy, don't yuh like ridin' a hoss? 'Fraid he'll throw yuh +or somethin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't yuh worry none about this little cayuse. He's all +hoss, he is, an' if yuh don't mind, Johnny, I'd be a heap +obliged if yuh'd follow behind when we ride out o' town. +Somebody might see us together an' take yuh for a friend o' +mine, an' that wouldn't do nohow." +</P> + +<P> +"Please, mister," whined Johnny Ramsay, "let me go with +yuh. I know where there's a pile o' nice tomatter cans for +the goat's supper. Red Rose tomatter cans, too. There's +more nourishment in them kind than there is in the Blue +Star brand. Hey, quit!" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon had suddenly flipped a broken horseshoe at +the hindquarters of Ramsay's pony, that surprised animal +going into the air immediately. When Ramsay had quieted +his wild-eyed mount, the two friends rode away together. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder why Blakely didn't go to it," remarked +Ramsay, when Farewell lay behind them. +</P> + +<P> +"Dunno," said Loudon. "He wasn't afraid, yuh can +gamble on that." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't none so shore. He's bad plumb through, Blakely +is. An' he's a killer, by his eyes. I guess it was just the +extra shade he wanted, an' the extra shade wasn't there. +You'd 'a' got him, Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore! But don't yuh make no mistake about Blakely +bein' a coward. He ain't. He's seen trouble, an' seen it in +the smoke." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean Skinner Jack. Well, Jack wasn't slow with a +gun, but the other two was Injuns, an' they only had +Winchesters, an' Blakely he had a Sharp's. So yuh can't tally +the war-whoops. An' I did hear how Skinner Jack was drunk +when he called Blakely a liar." +</P> + +<P> +"I doubt it. Skinner could always hold his red-eye. +More likely his gun caught." +</P> + +<P> +"Anyway, Tommy, you'd better not go cavortin' about on +the skyline too plenteous. It wouldn't bother Blakely none +to bushwhack yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he wouldn't do that. He ain't the bushwhackin' kind." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, ain't he? Now just because he ain't never done nothin' +like that, it don't prove he won't. He's got a killer's eyes, +I tell yuh, an' drillin' yuh would tickle him to death. Yuh +run a blazer on him, an' he quit cold. Other gents seen the +play. He won't never forget that. He'll down yuh on the +square, or what looks like an even break, if he can. But if +he can't he'll down yuh anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"Rustlers ramblin' over yore way any?" inquired Loudon +in a meaning tone. +</P> + +<P> +Johnny Ramsay struck his saddle-horn a resounding +thwack with his open palm. +</P> + +<P> +"If we could only get him that way!" he exclaimed. "But +he's slicker'n axle-grease." +</P> + +<P> +"The 88 will brand one calf too many some day. Hell's +delight! What do they do with 'em? Yuh ride the +range an' yuh ride the range an' yuh don't find no cows +with unhealed brands. I seen twelve, though, with the +88 brand that looked like some gent had been addin' to +Bar S with a runnin'-iron. But the brands was all healed +up. Anyway, we've lost forty cows, an' I dunno how many +calves." +</P> + +<P> +"They'll turn up again." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore—carryin' the 88 brand. My idea is that them +rustlers brand 'em an' then hold 'em in some blind caņon +over near the Fallin' Horse till the burns heal up, an' then +they throw 'em loose on the range again. If the cows do +drift across to the Bar S, what's the dif? They got the 88 +brand." +</P> + +<P> +"That sounds good. Why don't yuh take a little wander +'round the scenery near the Fallin' Horse?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have; I didn't see nothin'. But they got 'em hid +somewhere all right. One day I runs across Marvin, an' I had a +job losin' him. He stuck to me closer'n tar all day. He was +worried some, I seen that." +</P> + +<P> +"Goin' back?" +</P> + +<P> +"Till I find their cache, I am." +</P> + +<P> +"That's another reason for makin' Blakely so friendly. +He knows yuh won't stop lookin'. Ain't it the devil an' all? +The measly Sheriff just squats down on his hunkers an' does +nothin' while we lose cows in car-lots. An' when our cows go, +we kiss 'em good-bye. They never come back—not even +with their brand altered. Yuh can't change Cross-in-a-box +to 88." +</P> + +<P> +"With the Bar S it's a cinch. But the boss won't use another +brand. Not him. He'll stick to Bar S till he ain't got +a cow to run the iron on." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's a great system the 88 outfit are workin'! An' +with Sheriff Block an' most all o' Marysville an' Farewell their +friends it's a hard game to buck. Talk o' law! There ain't +none in Fort Creek County." +</P> + +<P> +"The only play is Vigilantes, an' it can't come to them till +there's proof. We all know Blakely an' the 88 bunch are +up to their hocks in this rustlin' deal, but we can't prove it." +</P> + +<P> +"There's the worst o' bein' straight," complained Johnny +Ramsay. "Yuh know some tinhorn is a-grabbin' all yuh +own. Yo're certain shore who the gent is, but yuh can't hop +out an' bust him without yuh catch him a-grabbin' or else +a-wearin' yore pet pants." +</P> + +<P> +"That's whatever," agreed Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +Five miles out of Farewell, where the trail forked, one +branch leading southeast to the Cross-in-a-box, the other to +the Bar S, Loudon checked his horse. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep a-goin'," said Johnny Ramsay. "I'm travellin' with +you a spell. I'm kind o' sick o' that old trail. I've rode it so +frequent I know all the rocks an' the cotton-woods by their +first names." +</P> + +<P> +Which explanation Loudon did not accept at its face value. +He understood perfectly why Ramsay continued to ride +with him. Ramsay believed that Blakely would endeavour +to drop Loudon from ambush, and it is well known that a +gentleman lying in wait for another will often stay his +hand when his intended victim is accompanied. Neither +Loudon nor Ramsay made any mention of the true inwardness +of his thoughts. They had been friends for a long time. +</P> + +<P> +Climbing the long slope of Indian Ridge, they scanned the +trail warily. But nowhere did the hoofprints of Blakely's +horse leave the dust of the trail. On the reverse slope of the +ridge they picked up the larger hoofprints of Block's horse. +Fair and plain the two sets of marks led southward. +</P> + +<P> +"Wonder who the other gent was," hazarded Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +"Block," said Loudon, "I met him this mornin'. I was +puttin' holes in his notice, an' he didn't like it none." +</P> + +<P> +"Did he chatter much?" +</P> + +<P> +"He talked a few, but nothin' to hurt." +</P> + +<P> +"The tinhorn!" laughed Ramsay. "Bet he's goin' to the 88." +</P> + +<P> +"It's some likely. We'll know when we reach Long Coulee." +</P> + +<P> +They reached Long Coulee, where the trail to the 88 swung +westward, as the sun was dropping behind the far-away peaks +of the Three Sisters Mountains. Loudon slipped his feet +from the stirrups and stretched luxuriously. But he did +not feel luxurious. +</P> + +<P> +As he had expected, Block had turned into the 88 trail, +but as he had not expected Blakely had ridden straight on +toward the Bar S. Which latter event was disquieting, not +that Loudon feared an act of violence on the part of Blakely, +but because Kate's evening would be preëmpted by his enemy. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon keenly desired to talk to Kate that evening. He +had a great many things to tell her, and now the coming of +Blakely spoiled it all. +</P> + +<P> +"The nerve o' some folks," remarked Johnny Ramsay, +eying the tracks of Blakely's horse with disfavour. "Better +tell old Salt to lock up the silver an' the cuckoo clock. No +offence now, Tommy, but if I was you, I'd sleep in the corral +to-night. Blakely might take a fancy to the goat." +</P> + +<P> +"I shore hope he does," grinned Loudon. "It would ease +the strain some." +</P> + +<P> +"Make it complete, old beanpole, when you do call the +turn. Well, I got to be skippin'. Give my love to old Salt. +So long." +</P> + +<P> +"So long." +</P> + +<P> +Johnny Ramsay picked up his reins, wheeled his pony, +and fox-trotted away. He felt that further accompanying of +Loudon was unnecessary. The danger of an ambush was past. +Riding with Loudon had taken Ramsay some fifteen miles +out of his way, and twenty-five long miles lay between his +pony's nose and the corral bars of the Cross-in-a-box ranch. +But Ramsay wasted not a thought on his lengthened journey. +He would have ridden cheerfully across the territory and +back again in order to benefit a friend. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, fellah," said Loudon, when Ramsay had gone. +</P> + +<P> +The chestnut moved off at a walk. Loudon did not hurry +him. He took out his papers and tobacco and rolled a +cigarette with neatness and despatch. Tilting back his head, +he blew the first lungful of smoke straight up into the air. +</P> + +<P> +"It wouldn't be right for her to marry him," he observed. +"She shore is one pretty girl. I wonder now if I have got +any chance. She's rich, an' I ain't, but I shore do love her +a lot. Kate Loudon—that's a right nice-soundin' name." +</P> + +<P> +He lowered his head and smoked silently for several +minutes. The horse, reins on his neck, swung along steadily. +</P> + +<P> +"Ranger fellah," said Loudon, "she'd ought to be willin' +to wait till we make a stake, oughtn't she now? That's right. +Wiggle one ear for yes. You know, don't yuh, old tiger-eye?" +</P> + +<P> +When the lights of the ranch sparked across the flat, +Ranger pointed his ears, lifted his head, and broke into a +foxtrot. Passing the ranch house, on his way to the corral, +Loudon heard the merry tinkle of a guitar. Through an +open window Loudon saw the squat figure of Mr. Saltoun bent +over a desk. On the porch, in the corner where the hammock +hung, flickered the glowing tip of a cigarette. With a double +thrum of swept strings the guitar-player in the hammock +swung from "The Kerry Dance" into "Loch Lomond." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon swore under his breath, and rode on. +</P> + +<P> +Jimmy, the cook, and Chuck Morgan, one of the punchers, +were lying in their bunks squabbling over the respective +merits of Texas and New Mexico when Loudon entered the +bunkhouse. Both men immediately ceased wrangling and +demanded letters. +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't read 'em all yet," replied Loudon, dropping his +saddle and bridle in a corner. "Wait till to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"Jimmy's expectin' one from a red-headed gal," grinned +Chuck Morgan. "He's been restless all day. 'Will she +write?' says he, 'an' I wonder if she's sick or somethin'.' Don't +you worry none, cookie. Them red-headed gals live +forever. They're tough, same as a yaller hoss." +</P> + +<P> +"You shut up!" exclaimed Jimmy. "Who'd write to you, +you frazzled end of a misspent life? D'jever look at yoreself +in the glass? You! Huh! Gimme my letter, Tommy." +</P> + +<P> +"Letter? What letter? I didn't say there was a letter +for yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, ain't there?" +</P> + +<P> +"You gimme somethin' to eat, an' then we'll talk about +letters." +</P> + +<P> +"You got a nerve!" roared the cook, indignantly. "Comin' +rollickin' in 'round midnight an' want yore chuck! Well, +there it is"—indicating Chuck Morgan—"go eat it." +</P> + +<P> +"You fry him an' I will. I'll gamble he wouldn't taste any +worse than them steaks you've been dishin' out lately." +</P> + +<P> +"You punchers gimme a pain," growled the cook, swinging +his legs out of the bunk. "Always eatin,' eatin'. I never +seen nothin' like it nohow." +</P> + +<P> +"He's sore 'cause Buff put a li'l dead snake in his bunk," +explained Chuck Morgan placidly. "Just a li'l snake—not +more'n three foot long at the outside. He shore is the most +fault-findin' feller, that Jimmy is." +</P> + +<P> +"There ain't anythin' for yuh, Chuck," said Loudon. +"Here's yore letter, Jimmy." +</P> + +<P> +The cook seized the grimy missive and retreated to his +kitchen. Twenty minutes later Loudon was eating supper. +He ate leisurely. He was in no hurry to go up to the ranch +house. +</P> + +<P> +"Got the makin's!" Chuck Morgan's voice was a roar. +</P> + +<P> +"Be careful," said Loudon, turning a slow head. "Yo're +liable to strain yore throat, an' for a fellah talkin' as much as +you do, that would shore be a calamity." +</P> + +<P> +"It shore would," agreed Morgan. "I only asked yuh +for the makin's three times before I hollered." +</P> + +<P> +"Holler first next time," advised Loudon, tossing paper +and tobacco across to Morgan. "Have yuh got matches? +Perhaps yuh'd like me to roll yuh a pill an' then light it for +yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that ain't necessary; none whatever. I got matches. +They're all I got left. This aft'noon Jimmy says 'gimme a +pipeful,' an' I wants to say right here that any jigger that'll +smoke a pipe will herd sheep. 'Gimme a load,' says Jimmy. +'Shore,' says I, an' Jimmy bulges up holdin' the father of all +corncobs in his hand. I forks over my bag, an' Jimmy +wades in to fill the pipe. But that pipe don't fill up for a +plugged nickel. +</P> + +<P> +"He upends my bag, shakes her empty, an' hands her back. +'Thanks,' says Jimmy. 'That's all right,' I says, 'keep the +bag, too. It'll fit in right handy to mend yore shirt with, +maybe.' Come to find out, that pipe o' Jimmy's hadn't no +bottom in her, an' all the tobacco run through an' into a bag +Jimmy was holdin' underneath. A reg'lar Injun trick, that +is. Yuh can't tell me Jimmy ain't been a squaw-man. +Digger Injuns, too, I'll bet." +</P> + +<P> +Jimmy, leaning against the door-jamb, laughed uproariously. +</P> + +<P> +"Yah," he yelped. "I'll teach yuh to steal my socks, I +will. I'd just washed a whole pair an' I was a-dryin' 'em +behind the house, an' along comes Chuck an' gloms both of +'em, the hawg." +</P> + +<P> +Leaving the two wrangling it out between them, Loudon +pushed back his chair and went to the door. For a time he +stood looking out into the night. Then he went to his saddle, +picked up the bag containing the mail for Mr. Saltoun, and +left the bunkhouse. +</P> + +<P> +On the way to the ranch house he took out of his shirt the +parcel of ribbon and smoothed it out. Skirting the house on +the side farthest from the porch corner where sat Kate and +Blakely, Loudon entered the kitchen and walked through the +dining room to the open doorway of the office. Mr. Saltoun +half turned at Loudon's entrance. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello," said Mr. Saltoun, screwing up his eyes. "I was +just wonderin' when you'd pull in." +</P> + +<P> +"'Lo," returned Loudon. "Here's the mail, an' here's a +package for Miss Kate." +</P> + +<P> +There was a rush of skirts, and handsome, black-haired +Kate Saltoun, her dark eyes dancing, stood in the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you get my ribbon, Tom?" cried she, and pounced +on the flat parcel before Loudon could reply. +</P> + +<P> +She smiled and glowed and held the ribbon under her olive +chin, exclaimed over it and thanked Loudon all in a breath. +Her father beamed upon her. He loved this handsome girl +of his. +</P> + +<P> +"Come out on the porch, Tom," said Kate, "when you're +through with father. Mr. Blakely's here. Thank you again +for bringing my ribbon." +</P> + +<P> +Kate swished away, and Mr. Saltoun's beaming expression +vanished also. Mr. Saltoun was not especially keen. He +rarely saw anything save the obvious, but for several weeks +he had been under the impression that Kate and this tall, +lean puncher with the gray eyes were too friendly. +</P> + +<P> +And here was Kate, while entertaining the 88 manager, +inviting Loudon to join her on the porch. Mr. Saltoun was +ambitious for his daughter. He had not the remotest +intention of receiving into his family a forty-dollar-a-month +cowhand. He would have relished firing Loudon. But the +latter was a valuable man. He was the best rider and roper +in the outfit. Good cowboys do not drift in on the heels of +every vagrant breeze. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun resolved to keep an eye on Loudon and arrange +matters so that Kate and the puncher should meet seldom, +if at all. He knew better than to speak to his daughter. +That would precipitate matters. +</P> + +<P> +By long experience Mr. Saltoun had learned that opposition +always stiffened Kate's determination. From babyhood +her father had spoiled her. Consequently the Kate of +twenty-three was hopelessly intractable. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun drummed on the desk-top with a pencil. +Loudon shifted his feet. He had mumbled a non-committal +reply to Kate's invitation. Not for a great deal would he +have joined the pair on the porch. But Mr. Saltoun did not +know that. +</P> + +<P> +"Chuck tells me," said Mr. Saltoun, suddenly, "that he +jerked five cows out o' that mud-hole on Pack-saddle Creek +near Box Hill. Yeah, that one. To-morrow I want yuh +to ride along Pack-saddle an' take a look at them other two +holes between Box Hill an' Fishtail Coolee. If yuh see any +cows driftin' west, head 'em east. When that —— barb-wire +comes—if it ever does, an' I ordered it a month ago—you an' +Chuck can fence them three mud-holes. Better get an early +start, Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said Loudon, and made an unhurried +withdrawal—by way of the kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +Once in the open air Loudon smiled a slow smile. He had +correctly divined the tenor of his employer's thoughts. +Before he reached the bunkhouse Loudon had resolved to +propose to Kate Saltoun within forty-eight hours. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +SHOTS ON PACK-SADDLE +</H4> + +<P CLASS="poem" STYLE="font-size: 85%"> +"I woke up one mornin' on the old Chisolm trail,<BR> +Rope in my hand an' a cow by the tail.<BR> +Crippled my hoss, I don't know how,<BR> +Ropin' at the horns of a 2-U cow."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Thus sang Loudon, carrying saddle and bridle to the corral in the blue +light of dawn. Chuck Morgan was before him at the corral, and +wrestling with a fractious gray pony. +</P> + +<P> +"Whoa! yuh son of sin!" yelled Morgan, wrenching the pony's ear. +"Stand still, or I'll cave in yore slats!" +</P> + +<P> +"Kick him again," advised Loudon, flicking the end of his rope across +the back of a yellow beast with a black mane and tail. +</P> + +<P> +The yellow horse stopped trotting instantly. He was rope-broke. It +was unnecessary to "fasten," thanks to Loudon's training. +</P> + +<P> +"They say yuh oughtn't to exercise right after eatin'," continued +Loudon, genially. "An' yo're mussin' up this nice corral, too, Chuck." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll muss up this nice little gray devil!" gasped Chuck. "When I git +on him I'll plow the hide offen him. —— his soul! He's half mule." +</P> + +<P> +"He takes yuh for a relative!" called Jimmy, who had come up +unobserved. "Relatives never do git along nohow!" +</P> + +<P> +Jimmy fled, pursued by pebbles. The panting and outraged Chuck +returned to his task of passing the rear cinch. Still swearing, he +joined Loudon at the gate. The two rode away together. +</P> + +<P> +"That sorrel o' Blakely's," observed Chuck, his fingers busy with paper +and tobacco, "is shore as pretty as a little red wagon." +</P> + +<P> +"Yeah," mumbled Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"I was noticin' him this mornin'," continued Chuck Morgan. "He's got +the cleanest set o' legs I ever seen." +</P> + +<P> +"This mornin'," said Loudon, slowly, "Where'd yuh see Blakely's sorrel +this mornin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the little corral. He's in there with the Old Man's string." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon pulled his hat forward and started methodically to roll a +cigarette. So Blakely had spent the night at the ranch. This was the +first time he had ever stayed overnight. +</P> + +<P> +What did it mean? Calling on Kate was one thing, but spending the +night was quite another. +</P> + +<P> +With the fatuous reasoning of a man deeply in love, Loudon refused to +believe that Blakely could be sailing closer to the wind of Kate's +affections than he himself. Yet there remained the fact of Blakely's +extended visit. +</P> + +<P> +"We've been losin' right smart o' cows lately," remarked Chuck Morgan. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the use o' talkin'?" exclaimed Loudon, bitterly. "The Old Man +says we ain't, an' he's the boss." +</P> + +<P> +"He won't say so after the round-up. He'll sweat blood then. If I +could only catch one of 'em at it. Just one. But them thievin' 88 +boys are plumb wise. An' the Old Man thinks they're little he-angels +with four wings apiece." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh can't tell <I>him</I> nothin'. He knows." +</P> + +<P> +"An' Blakely comes an' sets around, an' the Old Man laps up all he says +like a cat, an' Blakely grins behind his teeth. I'd shore like to know +his opinion o' the Old Man." +</P> + +<P> +"An' us." +</P> + +<P> +"An' us. Shore. The Old Man can't be expected to know as much as us. +You can gamble an' go the limit Blakely has us sized up for +sheep-woolly baa-lambs." +</P> + +<P> +Morgan made a gesture of exasperation. +</P> + +<P> +"We will be sheep," exclaimed Loudon, "if we don't pick up somethin' +against the 88 before the round-up! We're full-sized, two-legged men, +ain't we? Got eyes, ain't we? There ain't nothin' the matter with our +hands, is there? Yet them 88 boys put it all over our shirt. +Blakely's right. We're related plumb close to sheep, an' blind sheep +at that." +</P> + +<P> +"Them 88 boys have all the luck," grunted Chuck Morgan. "But their +luck will shore break if I see any of 'em a-foolin' with our cows. So +long." +</P> + +<P> +Chuck Morgan rode off eastward. His business was with the cattle near +Cow Creek, which stream was one of the two dividing the Bar S range +from that of the Cross-in-a-box. Loudon, his eyes continually sliding +from side to side, loped onward. An hour later he forded the Lazy +River, and rode along the bank to the mouth of Pack-saddle Creek. +</P> + +<P> +The course he was following was not the shortest route to the two +mud-holes between Box Hill and Fishtail Coulee. But south of the Lazy +the western line of the Bar S was marked by Pack-saddle Creek, and +Loudon's intention was to ride along the creek from mouth to source. +</P> + +<P> +There had been no rain for a month. If any cows had been driven across +the stream he would know it. Twice before he had ridden the line of +the creek, but his labours had not been rewarded. Yet Loudon did not +despair. His was a hopeful soul. +</P> + +<P> +Occasionally, as he rode, he saw cows. Here and there on the bank were +cloven hoofprints, showing where cattle had come down to drink. But +none of them had crossed since the rain. And there were no marks of +ponies' feet. +</P> + +<P> +At the mud-hole near Box Hill a lone cow stood belly-deep, stolidly +awaiting death. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh poor idjit," commented Loudon, and loosed his rope from the +saddle-horn. +</P> + +<P> +The loop settled around the cow's horns. The yellow pony, cunningly +holding his body sidewise that the saddle might not be pulled over his +tail, strained with all four legs. +</P> + +<P> +"C'mon, Lemons!" encouraged Loudon. "C'mon, boy! Yuh old yellow lump +o' bones! Heave! Head or cow, she's got to come!" +</P> + +<P> +Thus adjured the pony strove mightily. The cow also exerted itself. +Slowly the tenacious grip of the mud was broken. With a suck and a +plop the cow surged free. It stood, shaking its head. +</P> + +<P> +Swiftly Loudon disengaged his rope, slapped the cow with the end of it, +and urged the brute inland. +</P> + +<P> +Having chased the cow a full half-mile he returned to the mud-hole and +dismounted. For he had observed that upon a rock ledge above the +mud-hole which he wished to inspect more closely. What he had noted +was a long scratch across the face of the broad flat ledge of rock. +But for his having been drawn in close to the ledge by the presence of +the cow in the mud-hole, this single scratch would undoubtedly have +escaped his attention. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon leaned over and scrutinized the scratch. It was about a foot +long, a quarter of an inch broad at one end, tapering roughly to a +point. Ordinarily such a mark would have interested Loudon not at all, +but under the circumstances it might mean much. The side-slip of a +horse's iron-shod hoof had made it. This was plain enough. It was +evident, too, that the horse had been ridden. A riderless horse does +not slip on gently sloping rocks. +</P> + +<P> +Other barely visible abrasions showed that the horse had entered the +water. Why had someone elected to cross at this point? Pack-saddle +Creek was fordable in many places. Below the mud-hole four feet and +less was the depth. But opposite the rock ledge was a scour-hole fully +ten feet deep shallowing to eight in the middle of the stream. Here +was no crossing for an honest man in his senses. But for one of +questionable purpose, anxious to conceal his trail as much as possible, +no better could be chosen. +</P> + +<P> +"Good thing his hoss slipped," said Loudon, and returned to the waiting +Lemons. +</P> + +<P> +Mounting his horse he forded the creek and rode slowly along the bank. +Opposite the lower end of the ledge he found that which he sought. In +the narrow belt of bare ground between the water's edge and the grass +were the tracks of several cows and one pony. Straight up from the +water the trail led, and vanished abruptly when it reached the grass. +</P> + +<P> +"Five cows," said Loudon. "Nothin' mean about that jigger." +</P> + +<P> +He bent down to examine the tracks more closely, and as he stooped a +rifle cracked faintly, and a bullet whisped over his bowed back. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon jammed home both spurs, and jumped Lemons forward. Plying his +quirt, he looked over his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +A puff of smoke suddenly appeared above a rock a quarter of a mile +downstream and on the other side of the creek. The bullet tucked into +the ground close beside the pony's drumming hoofs. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon jerked his Winchester from its scabbard under his leg, turned in +the saddle, and fired five shots as rapidly as he could work the lever. +He did not expect to score a hit, but earnestly hoped to shake the +hidden marksman's aim. He succeeded but lamely. +</P> + +<P> +The enemy's third shot cut through his shirt under the left armpit, +missing the flesh by a hair's-breadth. Loudon raced over the lip of a +swell just as a fourth shot ripped through his hat. +</P> + +<P> +Hot and angry, Loudon jerked Lemons to a halt half-way down the reverse +slope. Leaving his horse tied to the ground he ran back and lay down +below the crest. He removed his hat and wriggled forward to the top. +</P> + +<P> +Cautiously lifting his head he surveyed the position of his unknown +opponent. A half-mile distant, on the Bar S side of the Pack-saddle, +was the rock which sheltered the marksman. A small dark dot appeared +above it. +</P> + +<P> +Taking a long aim Loudon fired at the dot. As he jerked down the lever +to reload, a gray smoke-puff mushroomed out at the lower right-hand +corner of the rock, and a violent shock at the elbow numbed his right +hand. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon rolled swiftly backward, sat up, and stared wonderingly at his +two hands. One held his Winchester, but gripped in the cramped fingers +of the right hand was the bent and broken lever of the rifle. The +bullet of the sharp-shooting citizen had struck the lever squarely on +the upper end, snapped the pin, torn loose the lever, and hopelessly +damaged the loading mechanism. +</P> + +<P> +"That jigger can shore handle a gun," remarked Loudon. "If this ain't +one lovely fix for a Christian! Winchester no good, only a +six-shooter, an' a fully-organized miracle-worker a-layin' for my hide. +I'm a-goin' somewhere, an' I'm goin' right now." +</P> + +<P> +He dropped the broken lever and rubbed his numbed fingers till +sensation returned. Then he put on his hat and hurried down to his +horse. +</P> + +<P> +He jammed the rifle into the scabbard, mounted, and rode swiftly +southward, taking great pains to keep to the low ground. +</P> + +<P> +A mile farther on he forded the creek and gained the shelter of an +outflung shoulder of Box Hill. +</P> + +<P> +Near the top Loudon tied Lemons to a tree and went forward on foot. +Cautiously as an Indian, Loudon traversed the flat top of the hill and +squatted down in a bunch of tall grass between two pines. From this +vantage-point his field of view was wide. The rock ledge and the +mud-hole were in plain sight. So was the rock from which he had been +fired upon. It was a long mile distant, and it lay near the crest of a +low hog's-back close to the creek. +</P> + +<P> +"He's got his hoss down behind the swell," muttered Loudon. "Wish this +hill was higher." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon pondered the advisability of climbing a tree. He wished very +much to obtain a view of the depression behind the hog's-back. He +finally decided to remain where he was. It was just possible that the +hostile stranger might be provided with field glasses. In which case +tree-climbing would invite more bullets, and the shooting of the enemy +was too nearly accurate for comfort. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon settled himself comfortably in his bunch of grass and watched +intently. Fifteen or twenty minutes later what was apparently a part +of the rock detached itself and disappeared behind the crest of the +hog's-back. +</P> + +<P> +Soon the tiny figure of a mounted man came into view on the flat +beyond. Horse and rider moved rapidly across the level ground and +vanished behind a knoll. When the rider reappeared he was not more +than nine hundred yards distant and galloping hard on a course +paralleling the base of the hill. +</P> + +<P> +"Good eye," chuckled Loudon. "Goin' to surround me. I'd admire to +hear what he says when he finds out I ain't behind that swell." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger splashed across the creek and raced toward some high +ground in the rear of Loudon's old position. +</P> + +<P> +Now that the enemy had headed westward there was nothing to be gained +by further delay. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon had plenty of courage, but one requires more than bravery and a +six-shooter with which to pursue and successfully combat a gentleman +armed with a Winchester. +</P> + +<P> +Hastily retreating to his horse, Loudon scrambled into the saddle, +galloped across the hilltop and rode down the eastern slope at a speed +exceedingly perilous to his horse's legs. But the yellow horse somehow +contrived to keep his footing and reached the bottom with no damage +other than skinned hocks. +</P> + +<P> +Once on level ground Loudon headed southward, and Lemons, that yellow +bundle of nerves and steel wire, stretched out his neck and galloped +with all the heart that was in him. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's destination was a line-camp twelve miles down the creek. This +camp was the temporary abode of two Bar S punchers, who were riding the +country south of Fishtail Coulee. Loudon knew that both men had taken +their Winchesters with them when they left the ranch, and he hoped to +find one of the rifles in the dugout. +</P> + +<P> +With a rifle under his leg Loudon felt that the odds would be even, in +spite of the fact that the enemy had an uncanny mastery of the long +firearm. Loudon's favourite weapon was the six-shooter, and he was at +his best with it. A rifle in his hands was not the arm of precision it +became when Johnny Ramsay squinted along the sights. For Johnny was an +expert. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep a-travellin', little hoss, keep a-travellin'," encouraged Loudon. +"Split the breeze. That's the boy!" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon had more than one reason for being anxious to join issue with +the man who had attacked him. At nine hundred yards one cannot +recognize faces or figures, but one can distinguish the colour of a +horse, and Loudon's antagonist rode a sorrel. Chuck Morgan had said +that Blakely's horse was a sorrel. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Loudon sighted the dugout that was Pack-saddle line-camp in a trifle +less than an hour. He saw with elation that two hobbled ponies were +grazing near by. A fresh mount would quicken the return trip. +Loudon's elation collapsed like a pricked bubble when he entered the +dugout and found neither of the rifles. +</P> + +<P> +He swore a little, and smoked a sullen cigarette. Then he unsaddled +the weary Lemons and saddled the more vicious of the two hobbled +ponies. Subjugating this animal, a most excellent pitcher, worked off +a deal of Loudon's ill-temper. Even so, it was in no cheerful frame of +mind that he rode away to inspect the two mud-holes between Fishtail +Coulee and Box Hill. +</P> + +<P> +To be beaten is not a pleasant state of affairs. Not only had he been +beaten, but he had been caught by the old Indian fighter's trick of the +empty hat. That was what galled Loudon. To be lured into betraying +his position by such an ancient snare! And he had prided himself on +being an adroit fighting man! The fact that he had come within a +finger's breadth of paying with his life for his mistake did not lesson +the smart, rather it aggravated it. +</P> + +<P> +Late in the afternoon he returned to the line-camp. Hockling and Red +Kane, the two punchers, had not yet ridden in. So Loudon sliced bacon +and set the coffee on to boil. Half an hour after sunset Hockling and +Kane galloped up and fell upon Loudon with joy. Neither relished the +labour, insignificant as it was, of cooking. +</P> + +<P> +"Company," remarked Red Kane, a forkful of bacon poised in the air. +</P> + +<P> +The far-away patter of hoofs swelled to a drumming crescendo. Then +inside the circle of firelight a pony slid to a halt, and the voice of +cheerful Johnny Ramsay bawled a greeting. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right, Tom!" shouted the irrepressible Johnny. "Always have +chuck ready for yore uncle. He likes his meals hot. This is shore +real gayful. I wasn't expectin' to find any folks here." +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose not," said Red Kane. "You was figurin' on romancin' in while +we was away an' stockin' up on <I>our</I> grub. I know you. Hock, you +better cache the extry bacon an' dobies. Don't let Johnny see 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, o' course," observed Ramsay, superciliously, "I've got the +appetite of youth an' a feller with teeth. I don't have to get my +nourishment out of soup." +</P> + +<P> +"He must mean you, Hock," said Red Kane, calmly. "You've done lost +eight." +</P> + +<P> +"The rest of 'em all hit," asserted Hockling, grinning. "But what +Johnny wants with teeth, I dunno. By rights he'd ought to stick to +milk. Meat ain't healthy for young ones. Ain't we got a +nursin'-bottle kickin' round some'ers, Red?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, Red owns one," drawled Loudon. "I seen him buyin' one once +over to Farewell at Mike Flynn's." +</P> + +<P> +"O' course," said Johnny, heaping his plate with bacon and beans. "I +remember now I seen him, too. Said he was buyin' it for a friend. Why +not admit yo're married, Red?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh know I bought it for Mis' Shaner o' the Three Bars!" shouted the +indignant Kane. "She done asked me to get it for her. It was for her +baby to drink out of." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh don't mean it," said Johnny, seriously. "For a baby, yuh say. +Well now, if that ain't surprisin'. I always thought nursin'-bottles +was to drive nails with." +</P> + +<P> +In this wise the meal progressed pleasantly enough. After supper, when +the four were sprawled comfortably on their saddle-blankets, Loudon +launched his bombshell. +</P> + +<P> +"Had a small brush this mornin'," remarked Loudon, "with a gent over by +the mud-hole north o' Box Hill." +</P> + +<P> +The three others sat up, gaping expectantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Djuh get him?" demanded Johnny Ramsay, his blue eyes glittering in the +firelight. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon shook his head. He raised his left arm, revealing the rent in +his shirt. Then he removed his hat and stuck his finger through the +hole in the crown. +</P> + +<P> +"Souvenirs," said Loudon. "He busted the lever off my Winchester an' +gormed up the action." +</P> + +<P> +"An' he got away?" queried Red Kane. +</P> + +<P> +"The last I seen of him he was workin' in behind where he thought I +was." +</P> + +<P> +"Where was you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was watchin' him from the top o' Box Hill. What did yuh think I'd +be doin'? Waitin' for him to surround me an' plug me full o' holes? I +come here some hurried after he crossed the creek. I was hopin' you'd +have left a rifle behind." +</P> + +<P> +"Wish't we had," lamented Hockling. "Say, you was lucky to pull out of +it without reapin' no lead." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll gamble you started the fraycas, Tommy," said Johnny Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +"Not this trip. I was lookin' at some mighty interestin' cow an' pony +tracks opposite the rock ledge when this gent cuts down on me an' +misses by two inches." +</P> + +<P> +"Tracks?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep. Some sport drove five cows on to the ledge an' chased 'em over +the creek. That's how they work the trick. They throw the cows across +where there's hard ground or rocks on our side. 'Course the rustlers +didn't count none on us nosyin' along the opposite bank." +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't they the pups!" ejaculated Hockling. +</P> + +<P> +"They're wise owls," commented Johnny Ramsay. "Say, Tom, did this +shootin' party look anyways familiar?" +</P> + +<P> +"The colour of his hoss was—some," replied Loudon. "Blakely was at +the ranch last night, an' his hoss was a sorrel." +</P> + +<P> +"What did I tell yuh?" exclaimed Johnny Ramsay. "What did I tell yuh? +That Blakely tinhorn is one bad actor." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't none shore it was him. There's herds o' sorrel cayuses." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore there are, but there's only one Blakely. Oh, it was him all +right." +</P> + +<P> +"Whoever it was, I'm goin' to wander over onto the 88 range to-morrow, +if Red or Hock'll lend me a Winchester." +</P> + +<P> +"Take mine," said Hockling. "Red's throws off a little." +</P> + +<P> +"She does," admitted Red Kane, "but my cartridges don't. I'll give yuh +a hull box." +</P> + +<P> +Followed then much profane comment relative to the 88 ranch and the +crass stupidity of Mr. Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +"I see yo're packin' a Winchester," said Loudon to Johnny Ramsay, when +Hockling and Red had turned in. +</P> + +<P> +"Hunter's trip," explained Johnny, his eyes twinkling. "Jack Richie's +got his own ideas about this rustlin', so he sent me over to scamper +round the 88 range an' see what I could see. I guess I'll travel with +you a spell." +</P> + +<P> +"Fine!" said Loudon. "Fine. I was wishin' for company. If we're +jumped we'd ought to be able to give 'em a right pleasant little +surprise." +</P> + +<P> +Johnny Ramsay rolled a cigarette and gazed in silence at the dying fire +for some minutes. Loudon, his hands clasped behind his head, stared +upward at the star-dusted heavens. But he saw neither the stars nor +the soft blackness. He saw Kate and Blakely, and thick-headed Mr. +Saltoun bending over his desk, and he was wondering how it all would +end. +</P> + +<P> +"Say," said Johnny Ramsay, suddenly, "this here hold-up cut down on yuh +from behind a rock, didn't he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore did," replied Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Which side did he fire from?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, the hind side." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't tryin' to be funny. Was it the left side or the right side?" +</P> + +<P> +"The right side," Loudon replied, after a moment's thought. +</P> + +<P> +"Yore right side?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep." +</P> + +<P> +"That would make it his left side. Did yuh ever stop to think, Tom, +that Blakely shoots a Colt right-handed an' a Winchester left-handed?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon swore sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, how did I come to forget that!" he exclaimed. "O' course he +does." +</P> + +<P> +"Guess Mr. Blakely's elected," said Johnny Ramsay. "Seems likely." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Early next morning Loudon and Ramsay rode northward along the bank of +the Pack-saddle. They visited first the boulder a quarter of a mile +below the mud-hole. Here they found empty cartridge shells, and the +marks of boot-heels. +</P> + +<P> +They forded the creek at the ledge above the mud-hole, where the cows +had been driven across, and started westward. They were careful to +ride the low ground at first, but early in the afternoon they climbed +the rocky slope of Little Bear Mountain. From the top they surveyed +the surrounding country. They saw the splendid stretches of the range +specked here and there with dots that were cows, but they saw no riders. +</P> + +<P> +They rode down the mountainside and turned into a wide draw, where +pines and tamaracks grew slimly. At the head of the draw, where it +sloped abruptly upward, was a brushless wood of tall cedars, and here, +as they rode in among the trees, a calf bawled suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +They rode toward the sound and came upon a dead cow. At the cow's side +stood a lonely calf. At sight of the men the calf fled lumberingly. +Ramsay unstrapped his rope and gave his horse the spur. Loudon +dismounted and examined the dead cow. When Ramsay returned with the +calf, Loudon was squatting on his heels, rolling a cigarette. +</P> + +<P> +"There y'are," observed Loudon, waving his free hand toward the cow. +"There's evidence for yuh. Ears slit with the 88 mark, an' the 88 +brand over the old Bar S. Leg broke, an' a hole in her head. She +ain't been dead more'n a day. What do you reckon?" +</P> + +<P> +"That the 88 are damn fools. Why didn't they skin her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Too lazy, I guess. That calf's branded an' earmarked all complete. +Never was branded before, neither." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore. An' the brand's about two days old. Just look at it. Raw +yet." +</P> + +<P> +"Same date as its ma's. They done some slick work with a wet blanket +on that cow, but the Bar S is plain underneath. Give the cow a month, +if she'd lived, an' yuh'd never know but what she was born 88." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, they're slick, the pups!" exclaimed Johnny Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +"The Old Man ought to see this. When Old Salt throws his eyes on that +brandin' I'll gamble he'll change his views some." +</P> + +<P> +"You bet he will. Better start now." +</P> + +<P> +"All right. Let's get a-goin'." +</P> + +<P> +"One's enough. You go, Tommy. I'll stay an' caper around. I might +run onto somethin'. Yuh can't tell." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd kind o' like to have yuh here when I get back." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry none. From what I know o' Old Salt you an' him won't be +here before to-morrow mornin'! I'll be here then." +</P> + +<P> +"All right. I'll slide instanter. So long, Johnny." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SKINNED CATTLE +</H4> + +<P> +"This is a devil of a time to haul a man out o' bed," complained Mr. +Saltoun, stuffing the tail of his nightshirt into his trousers. "C'mon +in the office," he added, grumpily. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun, while Loudon talked, never took his eyes from the +puncher's face. Incredulity and anger warred in his expression. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you reckon?" the owner inquired in a low tone, when Loudon +fell silent. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's plain enough," said Loudon, impatiently. "The rustlers were +night-drivin' them cows when one of 'em busted her leg. So they shot +her, an' the calf got away an' come back after the rustlers had gone +on. They must 'a' been night-drivin', 'cause if it had been daytime +they'd 'a' rounded up the calf. Night-drivin' shows they were in a +hurry to put a heap o' range between themselves an' the Bar S. They +were headin' straight for the Fallin' Horse an' the Three Sisters." +</P> + +<P> +"I see all that. I'm still askin' what do you reckon?" +</P> + +<P> +"Meanin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who-all's doin' it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't changed my opinion any. If the rustlers don't ride for the +88, then they're related mighty close." +</P> + +<P> +"You can't prove it," denied Mr. Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +"I know I can't. But it stands to reason that two or three rustlers +workin' for themselves wouldn't drift cows west—right across the 88 +range. They'd drift 'em north toward Farewell, or south toward the +Fryin' Pans. Findin' that cow an' calf on the 88 range is pretty near +as strong as findin' a man ridin' off on yore hoss." +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty near ain't quite." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't sayin' anythin' more." +</P> + +<P> +"You've got a grudge against the 88, Tom. Just because a left-handed +sport on a sorrel cuts down on yuh it don't follow that Blakely is the +sport. Yuh hadn't ought to think so, Tom. Why, Blakely stayed here +the night before yuh started for Pack-saddle. He didn't leave till +eight o'clock in the mornin', an' then he headed for the 88. It ain't +likely he'd slope over to the creek an' shoot you up. Why, that's +plumb foolish, Tom. Blakely's white, an' he's a friend o' mine." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun gazed distressedly at Loudon. The puncher stared straight +before him, his expression wooden. He had said all that he intended to +say. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Tom," continued the owner, "I don't enjoy losin' cows any more +than the next feller. We've got to stop this rustlin' somehow. In the +mornin' I'll ride over with yuh an' have a look at that cow. Tell +Chuck Morgan I want him to come along. Now you get some sleep, an' +forget about the 88. They ain't in on this deal, take my word for it." +</P> + +<P> +It was a silent trio that departed in the pale light of the new day. +Chuck Morgan endeavoured to draw Loudon into conversation but gave it +up after the first attempt. The heavy silence remained unbroken till +they reached the mouth of the wide draw beyond Little Bear Mountain. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a hoss," said Loudon, suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +A quarter of a mile away grazed a saddled pony. Loudon galloped +forward. +</P> + +<P> +The animal made no attempt to escape. It stood quietly while Loudon +rode up and gathered in the reins dragging between its feet. The full +<I>cantenas</I> were in place. The quirt hung on the horn. The rope had +not been unstrapped. The slicker was tied behind the cantle. Under +the left fender the Winchester was in its scabbard. All on the saddle +was as it should be. +</P> + +<P> +"Whose hoss?" inquired Mr. Saltoun, who had followed more slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"Ramsay's," replied the laconic Loudon, and started up the draw at a +lope, leading the riderless pony. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's eyes searched the ground ahead and on both sides. He +instinctively felt that some ill had befallen Johnny Ramsay. His +intuition was not at fault. +</P> + +<P> +When the three had ridden nearly to the head of the draw, where the +trees grew thickly, Loudon saw, at the base of a leaning pine, the +crumpled body of Johnny Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon dropped from the saddle and ran to his friend. Ramsay lay on +his back, his left arm across his chest, his right arm extended, +fingers gripping the butt of his six-shooter. His face and neck and +left arm were red with blood. His appearance was sufficiently ghastly +and death-like, but his flesh was warm. +</P> + +<P> +Respiration was imperceptible, however, and Loudon tore open Ramsay's +shirt and pressed his ear above the heart. It was beating, but the +beat was pitifully slow and faint. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon set to work. Chuck Morgan was despatched to find water, and Mr. +Saltoun found himself taking and obeying orders from one of his own +cowpunchers. +</P> + +<P> +An hour later Ramsay, his wounds washed and bandaged, began to mutter, +but his words were unintelligible. Within, half an hour he was raving +in delirium. Chuck Morgan had departed, bound for the Bar S, and +Loudon and Mr. Saltoun sat back on their heels and watched their +moaning patient. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a whipsaw whether he'll pull through or not," remarked the +bromidic Mr. Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +"He's got to pull through," declared Loudon, grimly. "He ain't goin' +to die. Don't think it for a minute." +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno. He's got three holes in him." +</P> + +<P> +"Two. Neck an' arm, an' the bone ain't touched. That graze on the +head ain't nothin'. It looks bad, but it only scraped the skin. His +neck's the worst. A half inch over an' he'd 'a' bled to death. Yuh +can't rub out Johnny so easy. There's a heap o' life in him." +</P> + +<P> +"His heart's goin' better now," said Mr. Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon nodded, his gray eyes fixed on the bandaged head of his friend. +Conversation languished, and Mr. Saltoun began to roll and smoke +cigarettes. After a time Loudon rose. +</P> + +<P> +"He'll do till the wagon comes," he said. "Let's go over an' take a +squint at that cow." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon led Mr. Saltoun to the spot where lay the dead cow. When the +puncher came in sight of the dead animal he halted abruptly and +observed that he would be damned. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun whistled. The cow had been thoroughly skinned. Beside the +cow lay the calf, shot through the head. And from the little body +every vestige of hide had been stripped. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess that settles the cat-hop," said Mr. Saltoun, and began +comprehensively to curse all rustlers and their works. +</P> + +<P> +It was not the skinning that disturbed Mr. Saltoun. It was the sight +of his defunct property. The fact that he was losing cows had struck +home at last. Inform a man that he is losing property, and he may or +may not become concerned, but show him that same property rendered +valueless, and he will become very much concerned. Ocular proof is a +wonderful galvanizer. Yet, in the case of Mr. Saltoun, it was not +quite wonderful enough. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, they're slick!" exclaimed Loudon, bitterly. "They don't forget +nothin'! No wonder Blakely's a manager!" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun ceased swearing abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're wrong, Tom," he reproved. "The 88's got nothin' to do with it. +I know they ain't, an' that's enough. I'm the loser, not you, an' I'm +the one to do the howlin'. An' I don't want to hear any more about the +88 or Blakely." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon turned his back on Mr. Saltoun and returned to the wounded man. +The cowboy yearned to take his employer by the collar and kick him into +a reasonable frame of mind. Such blindness was maddening. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun heaped fuel on the fire of Loudon's anger by remarking that +the rustlers undoubtedly hailed from the Frying-Pan Mountains. Loudon, +writhing internally, was on the point of relieving his pent-up feelings +when his eye glimpsed a horseman on the high ground above the draw. +The puncher reached for his Winchester, but he laid the rifle down when +the rider changed direction and came toward them. +</P> + +<P> +"Block, ain't it?" inquired Mr. Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon nodded. His eyes narrowed to slits, his lips set in a straight +line. The sheriff rode up and halted, his little eyes shifting from +side to side. He spoke to Mr. Saltoun, nodded to Loudon, and then +stared at the wounded man. +</P> + +<P> +"Got a rustler, I see," he observed dryly, his lips crinkled in a +sneering smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh see wrong—as usual," said Loudon. "Some friend o' yores shot +Johnny." +</P> + +<P> +"Friend o' mine? Who?" queried the sheriff, his manner one of mild +interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Wish I knew. Thought yuh might be able to tell me. Ain't that what +yuh come here for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ramsay's shot—that's all we know," interposed Mr. Saltoun, hastily. +"An' there's a cow an' calf o' mine over yonder. Skinned, both of 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"An' the cow had been branded through a wet blanket," said Loudon, not +to be fobbed off. "The Bar S was underneath an' the 88 was on top. +Johnny an' me found the dead cow an' the live calf yesterday. I left +Johnny here an' rode in to the Bar S. When we got here we found Johnny +shot an' the cow an' calf skinned. What do you guess?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't guess nothin'," replied the sheriff. "But it shore looks as +if rustlers had been mighty busy." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't it?" said Loudon with huge sarcasm. "I guess, now——" +</P> + +<P> +"Say, look here, Sheriff," interrupted Mr. Saltoun, anxious to preserve +peace, "I ain't makin' no charges against anybody. But this rustlin' +has got to stop. I can't afford to lose any more cows. Do somethin'. +Yo're sheriff." +</P> + +<P> +"Do somethin'!" exclaimed the Sheriff. "Well, I like that! What can I +do? I can't be in forty places at once. Yuh talk like I knowed just +where the rustlers hang out." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh probably do," said Loudon, eyes watchful, his right hand ready. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep out of this, Tom," ordered Mr. Saltoun, turning on Loudon with +sharp authority. "I'll say what's to be said." +</P> + +<P> +"Show me the rustlers," said the sheriff, electing to disregard +Loudon's outburst. "Show me the rustlers, an' I'll do the rest." +</P> + +<P> +At which remark the seething Loudon could control himself no longer. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll do the rest!" he rapped out in a harsh and grating voice. "I +guess yuh will! If yuh was worth a —— yuh'd get 'em without bein' +shown! How much do they pay yuh for leavin' 'em alone?" +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff did not remove his hands from the saddle-horn. For Loudon +had jerked out his six-shooter, and the long barrel was in line with +the third button of the officer's shirt. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh got the drop," grunted the sheriff, his little eyes venomous, "an' +I ain't goin' up agin a sure thing." +</P> + +<P> +"You can gamble yuh ain't. I'd shore admire to blow yuh apart. You +git, an' git now." +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff hesitated. Loudon's finger dragged on the trigger. Slowly +the sheriff picked up his reins, wheeled his horse, and loped away. +</P> + +<P> +"What did yuh do that for?" demanded Mr. Saltoun, disturbed and angry. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, his eye-corners puckered, stared at the owner of the Bar S. +The cowboy's gaze was curious, speculative, and it greatly lacked +respect. Instead of replying to Mr. Saltoun's question, Loudon +sheathed his six-shooter, squatted down on his heels and began to roll +a cigarette. +</P> + +<P> +"I asked yuh what yuh did that for?" reiterated blundering Mr. Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +Again Loudon favoured his employer with that curious and speculative +stare. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell yuh," Loudon said, gently. "I talked to Block because it's +about time someone did. He's in with the rustlers—Blakely an' that +bunch. If you wasn't blinder'n a flock of bats you'd see it, too." +</P> + +<P> +"You can't talk to me this way!" cried the furious Mr. Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm doin' it," observed Loudon, placidly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're fired!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not by a jugful I ain't. I quit ten minutes ago." +</P> + +<P> +"You——" began Mr. Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't," advised Loudon, his lips parting in a mirthless smile. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun didn't. He withdrew to a little distance and sat down. +After a time he took out his pocket-knife and began to play +mumblety-peg. Mr. Saltoun's emotions had been violently churned. He +required time to readjust himself. But with his customary stubbornness +he held to the belief that Blakely and the 88 were innocent of +evil-doing. +</P> + +<P> +Until Chuck Morgan and the wagon arrived early in the morning, Loudon +and his former employer did not exchange a word. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THEIR OWN DECEIVINGS +</H4> + +<P> +Johnny Ramsay was put to bed in the Bar S ranch house. Kate Saltoun +promptly installed herself as nurse. Loudon, paid off by the now +regretful Mr. Saltoun, took six hours' sleep and then rode away on +Ranger to notify the Cross-in-a-box of Ramsay's wounding. +</P> + +<P> +An angry man was Richie, manager of the Cross-in-a-box, when he heard +what Loudon had to say. +</P> + +<P> +The following day Loudon and Richie rode to the Bar S. On Loudon's +mentioning that he was riding no longer for the Bar S, Richie +immediately hired him. He knew a good man, did Jack Richie of the +Cross-in-a-box. +</P> + +<P> +When they arrived at the Bar S they found Johnny Ramsay conscious, but +very weak. His weakness was not surprising. He had lost a great deal +of blood. He grinned wanly at Loudon and Richie. +</P> + +<P> +"You mustn't stay long," announced Miss Saltoun, firmly, smoothing the +bed-covering. +</P> + +<P> +"We won't, ma'am," said Richie. "Who shot yuh, Johnny?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno," replied the patient. "I was just a-climbin' aboard my hoss +when I heard a shot behind me an' I felt a pain in my neck. I pulled +my six-shooter an' whirled, an' I got in one shot at a gent on a hoss. +He fired before I did, an' it seems to me there was another shot off to +the left. Anyway, the lead got me on the side of the head an' that's +all I know." +</P> + +<P> +"Who was the gent on the hoss?" Loudon asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno, Tom. I hadn't more'n whirled when he fired, an' the smoke +hid his face. It all come so quick. I fired blind. Yuh see the chunk +in my neck kind o' dizzied me, an' that rap on the head comin' on top +of it, why, I wouldn't 'a' knowed my own brother ten feet away. I'm +all right now. In a couple o' weeks I'll be ridin' the range again." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore yuh will," said Loudon. "An' the sooner the quicker. You've +got a good nurse." +</P> + +<P> +"I shore have," smiled Johnny, gazing with adoring eyes at Kate Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +"That will be about all," remarked Miss Saltoun. "He's talked enough +for one day. Get out now, the both of you, and don't fall over +anything and make a noise. I'm not going to have my patient disturbed." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon went down to the bunkhouse for his dinner. After the meal, +while waiting for Richie, who was lingering with Mr. Saltoun, he strove +to obtain a word with Kate. But she informed him that she could not +leave her patient. +</P> + +<P> +"See you later," said Miss Saltoun. "You mustn't bother me now." +</P> + +<P> +And she shooed him out and closed the door. Loudon returned to the +bunkhouse and sat down on the bench near the kitchen. Soon Jimmy +appeared with a pan of potatoes and waxed loquacious as was his habit. +</P> + +<P> +"Who plugged Johnny? That's what I'd like to know," wondered Jimmy. +"Here! leave them Hogans be! They're to eat, not to jerk at the +windmill. I never seen such a kid as you. Yo're worse than Chuck +Morgan, an' he's just a natural-born fool. Oh, all right. I ain't +a-goin' to talk to yuh if yuh can't act decent." +</P> + +<P> +Jimmy picked up his pan of potatoes and withdrew with dignity. The +grin faded from Loudon's mouth, and he gazed worriedly at the ground +between his feet. +</P> + +<P> +What would Kate say to him? Would she be willing to wait? She had +certainly encouraged him, but—— Premonitory and unpleasant shivers +crawled up and down Loudon's spinal column. Proposing was a strange +and novel business with him. He had never done such a thing before. +He felt as one feels who is about to step forth into the unknown. For +he was earnestly and honestly very much in love. It is only your +philanderer who enters upon a proposal with cold judgment and a calm +heart. +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later Loudon saw Kate at the kitchen window. He was up in +an instant and hurrying toward the kitchen door. Kate was busy at the +stove when he entered. Over her shoulder she flung him a charming +smile, stirred the contents of a saucepan a moment longer, then clicked +on the cover and faced him. +</P> + +<P> +"Kate," said Loudon, "I'm quittin' the Bar S." +</P> + +<P> +"Quitting? Oh, why?" Miss Saltoun's tone was sweetly regretful. +</P> + +<P> +"Lot o' reasons. I'm ridin' for the Cross-in-a-box now." +</P> + +<P> +He took a step forward and seized her hand. It lay in his, limp, +unresponsive. Of which lack of sympathetic warmth he was too absorbed +to be conscious. +</P> + +<P> +"Kate," he pursued, "I ain't got nothin' now but my forty a month. But +I shore love yuh a lot. Will yuh wait for me till I make enough for +the two of us? Look at me, Kate. I won't always be a punch. I'll +make money, an' if I know yo're a-waitin' for me, I'll make it all the +faster." +</P> + +<P> +According to recognized precedent Kate should have fallen into his +arms. But she did nothing of the kind. She disengaged her fingers and +drew back a step, ingenuous surprise written large on her countenance. +Pure art, of course, and she did it remarkably well. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Tom," she breathed, "I wasn't expecting this. I didn't dream, +I——" +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," Loudon broke in. "I'm tellin' yuh I love yuh, +honey. Will yuh wait for me? Yuh don't have to say yuh love me. I'll +take a chance on yore lovin' me later. Just say yuh'll wait, will yuh, +honey?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Tom, I can't!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh can't! Why not? Don't love anybody else, do yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I can't, Tom," evaded Kate. "I don't think I could ever love you. +I like you—oh, a great deal. You're a dear boy, Tommy, but—you can't +make yourself love any one." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh won't have to make yoreself. I'll make yuh love me. Just give me +a chance, honey. That's all I want. I'd be good to yuh, Kate, an' I'd +spend my time tryin' to make yuh happy. We'd get along. I know we +would. Say yes. Give me a chance." +</P> + +<P> +Kate returned to the table and leaned against it, arms at her sides, +her hands gripping the table-edge. It was a pose calculated to display +her figure to advantage. She had practised it frequently. Kate +Saltoun was running true to form. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom," she said, her voice low and appealing, "Tom, I never had any +idea you loved me. And I'm awfully sorry I can't love you. Truly, I +am. But we can be friends, can't we?" +</P> + +<P> +"Friends! Friends!" The words were like a curse. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, head lowered, looked at her under his eyebrows. +</P> + +<P> +"Then it all didn't mean nothin'?" He spoke with an effort. +</P> + +<P> +"All? All what? What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh know what I mean. You've been awful nice to me. Yuh always acted +like yuh enjoyed havin' me around. An' I thought yuh liked me—a +little. An' it didn't mean nothin' 'cept we can be friends. Friends!" +</P> + +<P> +Again the word sounded like a curse. Loudon turned his head and stared +unseeingly out of the window. He raised his hand and pushed his hair +back from his forehead. A great misery was in his heart. Kate, for +once in her life swayed by honest impulse, stepped forward and laid a +hand on his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't take it so hard, Tom," she begged. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's eyes slid around and gazed down into her face. Kate was a +remarkably handsome girl, but she had never appeared so alluring as she +did at that moment. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stared at the vivid dark eyes, the parted lips, and the tilted +chin. Her warm breath fanned his neck. The moment was tense, fraught +with possibilities, and—Kate smiled. Even a bloodless cucumber would +have been provoked. And Loudon was far from being a cucumber. +</P> + +<P> +His long arms swept out and about her body, and he crushed her gasping +against his chest. Once, twice, three times he kissed her mouth, then, +his grasp relaxing, she wrenched herself free and staggered back +against the table. Panting, hands clenched at her throat, she faced +him. Loudon stood swaying, his great frame trembling. +</P> + +<P> +"Kate! Oh, Kate!" he cried, and stretched out his arms. +</P> + +<P> +But Kate groped her dazed way around the table. Physically and +mentally, she had been severely shocked. To meet a tornado where one +had expected a summer breeze is rather shattering to one's poise. +Quite so. Kate suffered. Then, out of the chaos of her emotions, +erupted wild anger. +</P> + +<P> +"You! You!" she hissed. "How dare you kiss me! Ugh-h! I could kill +you!" +</P> + +<P> +She drew the back of her hand across her mouth and snapped her hand +downward with precisely the same snap and jerk that a Mexican bartender +employs when he flips the pulque from his fingers. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know I'm engaged to Sam Blakely? What do you think he'll do +when he finds this out? Do you understand? I'm going to marry Sam +Blakely!" +</P> + +<P> +This facer cooled Loudon as nothing else could have done. Outwardly, +at least, he became calm. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't understand, but I do now," he said, stooping to recover his +hat. "If you'd told me that in the first place it would have saved +trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"You'd have been afraid to kiss me then!" she taunted. +</P> + +<P> +"Not afraid," he corrected, gently. "I wouldn't 'a' wanted to. I +ain't kissin' another man's girl." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I guess not! The nerve of you! Think I'd marry an ignorant +puncher!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh shore ain't goin' to marry this one, but yuh are goin' to marry a +cow thief!" +</P> + +<P> +"A—a what?" +</P> + +<P> +"A cow thief, a rustler, a sport who ain't particular whose cows he +brands." +</P> + +<P> +"You lie!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh'll find out in time I'm tellin' the truth. I guess now I know +more about Sam Blakely than you do, an' I tell yuh he's a rustler." +</P> + +<P> +"Kate! Oh, Kate!" called a voice outside. +</P> + +<P> +Kate sped through the doorway. Loudon, his lips set in a straight +line, followed her quickly. There, not five yards from the kitchen +door, Sam Blakely sat his horse. The eyes of the 88 manager went from +Kate to Loudon and back to Kate. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the excitement?" inquired Blakely, easily. +</P> + +<P> +Kate levelled her forefinger at Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"He says," she gulped, "he says you're a rustler." +</P> + +<P> +Blakely's hand swept downward. His six-shooter had barely cleared the +edge of the holster when Loudon's gun flashed from the hip, and +Blakely's weapon spun through the air and fell ten feet distant. +</P> + +<P> +With a grunt of pain, Blakely, using his left hand, whipped a derringer +from under his vest. +</P> + +<P> +Again Loudon fired. +</P> + +<P> +Blakely reeled, the derringer spat harmlessly upward, and then Blakely, +as his frightened horse reared and plunged, pitched backward out of the +saddle and dropped heavily to the ground. Immediately the horse ran +away. +</P> + +<P> +Kate, with a sharp cry, flung herself at the prostrate Blakely. +</P> + +<P> +"You've killed him!" she wailed. "Sam—Sam—speak to me!" +</P> + +<P> +But Sam was past speech. He had struck head first and was consequently +senseless. +</P> + +<P> +Come running then Jimmy from the bunkhouse, Chuck Morgan from the +corrals, Mr. Saltoun and Richie from the office. +</P> + +<P> +"He's dead! He's dead!" was the burden of Kate's shrill cries. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's see if he is," said the practical Richie, dropping on his knees +at Blakely's side. "He didn't tumble like a dead man. Just a shake, +ma'am, while I look at him. I can't see nothin' with you a-layin' all +over him this-a-way. Yo're gettin' all over blood, too. There, now! +She's done fainted. That's right, Salt. You take care of her." +</P> + +<P> +The capable Richie made a rapid examination. He looked up, hands on +knees, his white teeth gleaming under his brown moustache. +</P> + +<P> +"He's all right," he said, cheerfully. "Heart's a-tickin' like a +alarm-clock. Hole in his shoulder. Missed the bones. Bullet went +right on through." +</P> + +<P> +At this juncture Kate recovered consciousness and struggled upright in +her father's arms. +</P> + +<P> +"He shot first!" she cried, pointing at Loudon. "He didn't give him a +chance!" +</P> + +<P> +"You'll excuse me, ma'am," said Richie, his tone good-humoured, but his +eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "You'll excuse me for contradictin' +yuh, but I happened to be lookin' through the office window an' I seen +the whole thing. Sam went after his gun before Tom made a move." +</P> + +<P> +Blakely moved feebly, groaned, and opened his eyes. His gaze fell on +Loudon, and his eyes turned venomous. +</P> + +<P> +"You got me," he gritted, his lips drawn back, "but I'll get you when +Marvin and Rudd ride in. They've got the proof with 'em, you rustler!" +</P> + +<P> +After which cryptic utterance Blakely closed his mouth tightly and +contented himself with glaring. Richie the unconcerned rose to his +feet and dusted his knees. +</P> + +<P> +"Take his legs, Chuck," directed Richie. "Gimme a hand, will yuh, +Jimmy? Easy now. That's it. Where'll we put him, Salt?" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun and his now sobbing daughter followed them into the ranch +house. Loudon remained where he was. When the others had disappeared +Loudon clicked out the cylinder of his six-shooter, ejected the two +spent shells and slipped in fresh cartridges. +</P> + +<P> +"When Marvin an' Rudd ride in," he wondered. "Got the proof with 'em +too, huh. It looks as if Blakely was goin' to a lot o' trouble on my +account." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon walked swiftly behind the bunkhouse and passed on to the +corrals. From the top of the corral fence he intended watching for the +coming of Marvin and Rudd. In this business he was somewhat delayed by +the discovery of Blakely's horse whickering at the gate of the corral. +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't got nothin' against you," said Loudon, "but yuh shore have +queer taste in owners." +</P> + +<P> +Forthwith he stripped off saddle and bridle and turned the animal into +the corral. As he closed the gate his glance fell on the dropped +saddle. The coiled rope had fallen away from the horn, and there was +revealed in the swell-fork a neat round hole. He squatted down more +closely at the neat hole. +</P> + +<P> +"That happened lately," he said, fingering the edges of the hole. "I +thought so," he added, as an inserted little finger encountered a +smooth, slightly concave surface. +</P> + +<P> +He took out his knife and dug industriously. After three minutes' work +a somewhat mushroomed forty-five-calibre bullet lay in the palm of his +hand. +</P> + +<P> +"O' course Johnny Ramsay ain't the only sport packin' a forty-five," he +said, softly. "But Johnny did mention firin' one shot at a party on a +hoss. It's possible he hit the swell-fork. Yep, it's a heap possible." +</P> + +<P> +Then Loudon dropped the bullet into a pocket of his chaps and climbed +to the top of the corral fence. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +A mile distant, on the slope of a swell, two men were riding toward the +ranch house. The horsemen were driving before them a cow and a calf. +Loudon climbed down and took position behind the mule corral. From +this vantage-point he could observe unseen all that might develop. +</P> + +<P> +The riders, Marvin, the 88 range boss, and Rudd, a puncher, passed +within forty feet of the mule corral. The cow and the calf walked +heavily, as if they had been driven a long distance, and Loudon +perceived that they had been newly branded 8x8. The brand was not one +that he recognized. +</P> + +<P> +"Crossed Dumbbell or Eight times Eight." he grinned. "Take yore +choice. I wonder if that brand's the proof Blakely was talkin' about. +Marvin an' Rudd shore do look serious." +</P> + +<P> +He cautiously edged round the corral and halted behind the corner of +the bunkhouse. Marvin and Rudd were holding the cow and calf near the +ranch house door. The two men lounged in their saddles. Marvin rolled +a cigarette. Then in the doorway appeared Mr. Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy, Mr. Saltoun," said Marvin. "Sam got in yet?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's in there," replied Mr. Saltoun, jerking a thumb over his +shoulder. "He's shot." +</P> + +<P> +"Who done it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Tom Loudon," +</P> + +<P> +"Where is he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Throw up yore hands!" rapped out the gentleman in question. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon had approached unobserved and was standing some twenty feet in +the rear of Marvin and Rudd. At Loudon's sharp command Rudd's hands +shot skyward instantly. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm waitin'," cautioned Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +Marvin's fingers slowly uncoiled from the butt of his six-shooter and +draggingly he followed his comrade's example. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we can all be happy," remarked Loudon, nodding amiably to the +perturbed Mr. Saltoun. "I won't shoot unless they shove me. They can +talk just as comfortable with their hands up, an' it'll be a lot safer +all round. Was the state o' Sam's health all yuh wanted to know, +Marvin? No, don't either of yuh turn 'round. Just keep yore eyes +clamped on the windmill. About Sam, now, Marvin. Richie says he'll +pull through. Anythin' else?" +</P> + +<P> +"You bet there is!" exploded the furious range-boss. "You —— +rustler, you branded a cow an' a calf o' ours yest'day!" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," agreed Loudon, politely, "an' I held up the Farewell stage, +stole thirty-eight horses, an' robbed the Marysville bank the day +before. Yuh don't want to forget all them little details, Marvin. +It's a shore sign yo're gettin' aged when yuh do. Well, well, a cow +an' a calf yuh say. Only the two, huh? It don't look natural somehow. +I never brand less'n twenty-four at a clip." +</P> + +<P> +Over the shoulders of the agitated Mr. Saltoun peered the faces of +avidly interested Richie, Chuck Morgan, and Jimmy the cook. None of +these three allowed a sign of his true feeling to appear on his face. +</P> + +<P> +The two 88 men were red with shame and anger. Their lips moved with +wicked words. Arms stretched heavenward, their gaze religiously fixed +on the windmill, they presented a ridiculous appearance, and they knew +it. Loudon, the dominant figure in the scene, spread his legs and +smiled sardonically. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on, Marvin," he said, after a moment, "yo're cussin' a lot, but yuh +ain't sayin' nothin'. Let's hear the rest o' that interestin' story o' +the 88 cow an' her little daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"You branded the both of 'em," stubbornly reiterated Marvin. "We seen +yuh—Sam, Rudd here, an' me, we seen yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh seen me!" exclaimed Loudon. "Yuh seen me! You was close enough +to see me, an' yuh didn't try to stop me! Well, you shore are the +poorest liar in the territory." +</P> + +<P> +"If I had my hands down yuh wouldn't call me that!" +</P> + +<P> +"If yuh had yore hands down yuh'd be dead. I'm tryin' to save yore +life. C'mon, speak the rest o' yore little piece. Yuh got as far as +the brandin'. When did it all happen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Gents," said Marvin, "this sport is a rustler. There ain't no two +ways about it. Day before yest'day, just before sundown, over near the +Sink, the three of us seen Loudon workin' round a hog-tied cow an' +calf. We was three, maybe four miles away. We seen him through field +glasses. We hit the ground for the Sink, but when we got there all we +found was the cow an' calf, branded as yuh see 'em now. Loudon had +sloped." +</P> + +<P> +"Near the Sink," observed Loudon. "In the middle of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've quit talkin'," replied Marvin. +</P> + +<P> +Richie stepped past Mr. Saltoun and stood in front of Marvin and Rudd. +</P> + +<P> +"You've done made a right serious charge agin one o' my men," remarked +Richie, addressing Marvin. "If he did brand them cattle, he'll be +stretched. But it ain't all clear to me yet. This here Crossed +Dumbbell brand now—see it on any other cattle besides these two, +Marvin?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Marvin, shaking his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," continued Richie, "why didn't yuh come here right off instead +o' waitin' two days?" +</P> + +<P> +"We was busy." +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't go back to the 88 ranch house before comin' here, did yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"Or stop at any o' yore line-camps?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, we didn't. We come here soon as we could make it." +</P> + +<P> +"What part o' the Sink was Loudon workin' in?" +</P> + +<P> +"The north side." +</P> + +<P> +"Near the edge, o' course?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, he was nearer the middle." +</P> + +<P> +"Nearer the middle, was he? An' yuh seen him at a distance o' three or +four miles. Yuh must have good eyesight, because if you seen Loudon +workin' in the middle o' the Sink an' you was standin' where yuh say +yuh was, yuh looked through about two miles an' a half o' solid earth. +The middle o' the Sink is two hundred feet below the level o' the +surrounding country, an' there ain't no high land anywhere near it. +Unless yo're standin' right on the edge yuh can't see nothin' in the +bottom, an' the Sink is only about a mile from rim to rim. I guess now +yo're mistaken, Marvin." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't none shore he was plumb in the middle," grudgingly admitted +Marvin. "Maybe he was kind o' near the north rim. But what's the +difference?" he added, brazenly. "We seen him." +</P> + +<P> +"Where are the field glasses?" astutely questioned Richie. +</P> + +<P> +"Left 'em at our Lazy River line-camp," promptly replied Marvin. +</P> + +<P> +"Now ain't that funny, Marvin. Yuh told me not three minutes ago yuh +didn't stop at any o' yore line-camps." +</P> + +<P> +"I mean we—I gave 'em to Shorty Simms. He's at the Lazy River +line-camp, an' he took 'em there." +</P> + +<P> +"Why did yuh give 'em to Shorty?" persisted Richie. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here, Richie!" blazed Marvin, "this ain't no court, an' I don't +have to answer yore questions." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh'll have to answer plenty of questions," retorted Richie, "before +I'll see Loudon stretched." +</P> + +<P> +"I tell yuh he's a rustler!" shouted the mulish Marvin. "He's startin' +a herd o' his own, an' he's usin' the Dumbbell brand. We seen him +brandin' that stock! That's enough for you or any one else to know, +an' I tell yuh flat the 88 is out to stretch Tom Loudon the first +chance it gets!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, o' course, you know best," said Richie, "but I wouldn't do +nothin' rash, Marvin. I just wouldn't go off at half-cock if I was +you." +</P> + +<P> +"No," chipped in Loudon, briskly. "I wouldn't set my heart on it, +Marvin, old hoss. I ain't countin' none on dyin' yet awhile. I've got +a heap o' little matters to attend to before I cash, an' yuh can see +how hangin' me would disarrange all my plans. Take yore decorated cow +an' calf now an' pull yore freight, an' <I>don't</I> look back." +</P> + +<P> +When Marvin and Rudd were gone Richie hooked his thumb in his belt and +looked with twinkling eyes at Loudon and the men in the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess that settles the cat-hop," said Jack Richie. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +PESTILENT FELLOWS +</H4> + +<P> +Before his departure Loudon visited Blakely. +</P> + +<P> +"Found a bullet-hole in yore saddle," said Loudon without preliminary. +"Kind o' looks as if Johnny come near bustin' yore mainspring. I ain't +told Johnny—yet. Johnny bein' an impulsive sport he might ventilate +yuh plenty first time he met yuh. Johnny's square. He ain't shootin' +anybody unless he's pretty near certain the other party is a-layin' for +him, an' that bullet I dug out o' yore swell-fork shore makes it look +bad for yuh. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh needn't look so sour. I got good news for yuh. Yo're goin' to +marry Kate. Well an' good. I wouldn't enjoy downin' her husband +unless I'm crowded. I could 'a' killed yuh a while back, an' I shot +wide on purpose. Next time—but don't let there be any next time. +Just you keep away from me an' Johnny. I'm leavin' the Lazy River +country anyway, but I tell yuh, Sam Blakely, if Johnny Ramsay is +bushwhacked by the 88 I'll come back an' get yuh first card out o' the +box. Kate's husband or not yuh'll go shoutin' home. Understand?" +</P> + +<P> +"So yo're leavin' this country," bristled Blakely. "Yuh'd better. +I'll shoot yuh on sight!" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore yuh feel that way about it?" queried Loudon with suspicious +gentleness. +</P> + +<P> +"I say what I mean as a rule. I'll shoot yuh on sight you —— +rustler." +</P> + +<P> +"All right. Because o' Kate I was willin' to keep paws off, but if +yo're a-honin' to play the hand out, I'll give yuh every chance. +You've got to get well complete first. Take three months. That ought +to be time enough. Three months from to-day I'll ride in to Farewell. +If yo're still feelin' fighty be in town when I hit it." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be there," Blakely assured him. +</P> + +<P> +When Loudon had bidden Johnny Ramsay good-bye, he went out and mounted +Ranger and rode away with Jack Richie. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm goin' away from here, Jack," said Loudon, after Richie had +discussed in profane detail the 88's endeavour to discredit him. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought yuh was goin' to work for me?" exclaimed Richie in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"I was, but somethin's happened since then. I'm kind o' sick o' the +Lazy River country. I need a change." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you know best. But——" +</P> + +<P> +"I know what yo're thinkin'. If I go now the 88 will think I've quit +cold. Let 'em think it. I don't care. But I'll be back. I made an +appointment with Blakely to meet him in Farewell three months from +to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good hearin'. But I'm shore sorry you ain't goin' to ride for +me." +</P> + +<P> +"So'm I." +</P> + +<P> +"Stay over to-night anyway. Yuh ain't in any howlin' rush to get away, +are yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I ain't so hurried. I dunno where I'll head—north, maybe." +</P> + +<P> +"If yo're goin' north, why don't yuh try Scotty Mackenzie? He owns the +Flyin' M horse ranch over beyond Paradise Bend. There's three or four +good cow ranches near the Bend—the Seven Lazy Seven, the Wagon-wheel, +the Two Bar, an' the T V U." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe I will hit the Bend." +</P> + +<P> +"If yuh do," pursued Richie, "yuh might stop an' say howdy at Cap'n +Burr's. He married my sister, Burr did, an' all yuh got to do is say +yuh know me, an' they'll give yuh the house. I guess, though, yuh know +Cap'n Burr yoreself." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore I do. It was the Cap'n who put me on to buyin' Ranger here. He +kept tellin' me about this amazin' good cayuse over at the 88, an' +finally I went over, liked his looks, an' bought him. The Cap'n was at +the 88 the day I took the hoss away. He'd just freighted in a bunch o' +stuff Blakely'd ordered. Cap'n Burr does a powerful lot o' business." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't he now. Yuh wouldn't think tin-peddlin' would pay so well. Oh, +him an' his little old team o' blues shore glom onto the coin." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +When Loudon rode into Farewell on the following day he saw half-a-dozen +88 cow-ponies hitched to the rail in front of the Palace Saloon. +</P> + +<P> +"Now that's cheerful," said Loudon. "For a peaceable feller I shore do +tie in with trouble a heap." +</P> + +<P> +He turned aside at the hotel and tapped the landlord awake. At sight +of Loudon Bill Lainey's eyes opened to their fullest extent and his red +face turned purple with excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"Say," huskily whispered Lainey, "Shorty Simms, Rudd, Dakota Riley, an' +three more o' the 88 boys are in town. They're tankin' up down in the +Palace. Rudd's yowlin' round how he's goin' to drill yuh. He's a heap +peevish, Rudd is. I guess now yuh must 'a' riled him somehow, Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess maybe I did, Bill. I'll take a little walk down to the Palace +after I eat. Thanks for the warnin'. Feed the little hoss, will yuh, +Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore. Go on in an' holler for Lize." +</P> + +<P> +While Loudon was eating, a wiry, brisk little man with a white beard +entered the dining room. +</P> + +<P> +"How are yuh, Cap'n?" grinned Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Burr, surprise and embarrassment in his steel-blue eyes, +advanced and gripped Loudon's hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Loudon! By ——, suh!" he exclaimed. "This is indeed a pleasuh!" +</P> + +<P> +The tin-peddler slid into a chair and cleared his throat several times. +</P> + +<P> +"I feah, suh," he said, shamefacedly, "that I have trespassed on youah +prese'ves. Had I known that you were in town I would have stayed my +hand." +</P> + +<P> +"Why? What?" queried Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, suh, I'll tell you the whole story. It's sho't. Twenty minutes +ago I ente'ed the Palace Saloon. While drinking at the bah I could not +help but overheah the conve'sation of half-a-dozen 88 cowboys. One of +them, a man named Rudd, mentioned youah name and called you a rustlah. +</P> + +<P> +"You, Tom, are my friend, and, since I was unaware that you were in +town, I felt that I could not stand idly by. I info'med this Rudd +person that traducing the absent was not the act of a gentleman. I +also called him a —— scoundrel and a liah to boot. He took exception +to my wo'ds and, I was fo'ced to shoot him. +</P> + +<P> +"You unde'stand, Tom, that I acted in complete good faith. I believed +you to be at the Bah S. Otherwise, I should have repo'ted the mattah +to you. Of co'se, I would have stood at youah back while you shot the +rascal. His ruffianly friends ah not to be trusted." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't apologize, Cap'n," said Loudon, and he reached across the table +and shook hands again. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Burr appeared to be greatly comforted at Loudon's ready +acceptance of his explanation, and he attacked his beef and beans with +appetite. +</P> + +<P> +The captain was a good deal of a mystery to the folk with whom he came +in contact. His mode of speech and his table manners were not those of +ordinary men. But he was a man, with all that the name implies, and as +such they had learned to accept him. I employ "learned" advisedly. +Certain unthinking individuals had, when the captain was a comparative +stranger in that region, commented upon his traits and received a +prompt and thorough chastening. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Burr gained thereby an enviable reputation. In reality there +was no mystery attached to the old tin-peddler. He had simply been +born a gentleman. +</P> + +<P> +"Did Rudd die?" inquired Loudon in a tone of studied casualness, when +he had finished his meal. +</P> + +<P> +"He did not," replied the Captain. "Unless blood-poisoning sets in he +will live to be hung. My bullet broke his ahm. He rode away with his +comrades five minutes lateh. No doubt he was in some pain, but the +rogue was suffering much less than he dese'ved. I realize that I +should have killed him, of co'se, but as I grow oldeh I find myself +becoming soft-heahted. Time was—but one must not dwell in the past. +These beans ah excellent, Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"They are. Pullin' out soon?" +</P> + +<P> +"At once. I'm bound no'th. I intend to visit all the ranches between +heah and Paradise Bend. I hope to be home in two weeks. Ah you +travelling my way?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep. I guess I'm bound for the Bend, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I will ask you to deliveh a letteh to my wife. I missed the Bend +stage by two houahs to-day, and theah is no otheh fo' three days." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon took the letter and placed it carefully in the inside pocket of +his vest. +</P> + +<P> +While Captain Burr was harnessing his team, a job in which the +tin-peddler always refused assistance, Loudon rode down the street with +the intention of buying tobacco at the Blue Pigeon Store. In front of +the Happy Heart Saloon, opposite the Palace Dance Hall, stood Sheriff +Block and five citizens. +</P> + +<P> +As Loudon rode past the sheriff made a low-voiced remark and laughed +loudly. Instantly the five citizens burst into cackles. For Block, +besides being sheriff, owned both the Palace and the Happy Heart. +Hence most of Farewell's inhabitants took their cue from him. +</P> + +<P> +The cachination in front of the Happy Heart grated on Loudon's feelings +as well as his ear-drums. He knew that the sheriff, kindly soul, was +holding him up to ridicule. Kate's refusal of him had made Loudon +somewhat reckless. He had intended having it out with Rudd, but +Captain Burr had forestalled him there. Here, however, was the sheriff +of the county, another enemy. Loudon turned his horse. +</P> + +<P> +Promptly the five friends oozed in various directions. Sheriff Block, +a lonely figure, held his ground. +</P> + +<P> +"I hear yo're lookin' for me," announced Loudon, a laughing devil in +his gray eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Who told yuh?" queried the sheriff, puzzled. He had expected +something totally different. +</P> + +<P> +"Who told me? Oh, several little birds. So I want to find out about +it. I wouldn't like to put yuh to any trouble—such as huntin' me up, +for instance." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good o' yuh. But I ain't lookin' for yuh, not yet." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm right glad to hear that. Them little birds must 'a' lied. +Powerful lot o' lyin' goin' on in the world, ain't there?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno nothin' about it," mumbled the sheriff, who was becoming more +and more puzzled at the apparently aimless words of the puncher. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't yuh?" grinned Loudon. "That's shore hard to believe." +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff warily refused to take offence, and mumbled unintelligibly. +</P> + +<P> +"Forget that afternoon in the draw west o' Little Bear Mountain?" +relentlessly pursued Loudon. "We had some words—remember? Yuh said +somethin' about me havin' the drop. I ain't got the drop now. My +hands are on the horn. Yore's are hooked in yore belt. But I'll lay +yuh two to one I bust yuh plumb centre before yuh can pull. Take me +up?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's lips were smiling, but his eyes stared with a disconcerting +gray chilliness into the small black eyes of Sheriff Block. The +officer's eyelids wavered, winked, and Block shifted his gaze to +Loudon's chin. +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't startin' no gun-play for nothin'," said Block with finality. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon held up a ten-dollar gold piece. +</P> + +<P> +"Two to one," he urged. +</P> + +<P> +But the sheriff perceived that the hand holding the gold piece was +Loudon's left hand, and he could not quite screw his courage to the +sticking-point. Block was ordinarily brave enough, but he was bad, and +as a rule there is at least one individual whom the bad man fears. And +Block feared Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff's mean and vicious spirit writhed within him. He hated +Loudon, hated him for his cocksureness, for his easy fearlessness. He +would have sold his soul to the devil in return for the ability to +reach for his gun. The sheriff licked his lips. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, still smiling, continued to hold aloft the gold piece. The +onlookers—half of Farewell by this time—awaited the outcome in tense +silence. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the sheriff shook his shoulders, spat on the sidewalk, +wheeled, and entered the Happy Heart. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon flipped the gold piece into the air, caught it, and returned it +to his vest-pocket. Without a glance at the keenly disappointed +populace, he turned Ranger and loped to the Blue Pigeon Store. +</P> + +<P> +When he emerged, followed by the bawled "Good lucks!" of the +proprietor, Captain Burr was waiting. The tin-peddler's face was grave +but his steel-blue eyes were twinkling with suppressed merriment. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, suh——" chuckled the captain, when they were out of earshot of +the Farewell citizens—"well, suh, you ce'tainly talked to that +sheriff. Lord, Tom, it made me laugh. I didn't know that Block was so +lacking in honah and spo'ting spirit. I fully expected to witness +quite a ruction." +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't lookin' for a fight," disclaimed Loudon. "I knowed Block +wouldn't pull. It was safe as takin' pie from a baby." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not so shuah," doubted Captain Burr. "Any reptile is mighty +unce'tain. And this reptile had friends. I was watching them. My +Spenceh seven-shooteh was ready fo' action. You Rob'et E. Lee hoss, +pick up youah feet! Well, I'm glad it ended peacefully. My wife and +daughteh, as I may have mentioned, do not approve of fighting. They +cannot realize how necessa'y it becomes at times. It would be well, I +think, when you reach the Bend, to refrain from mentioning my little +disagreement with Rudd. My family might heah of it, and—but you +unde'stand, don't you, Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Course, I do, Cap'n," heartily concurred Loudon. "I won't say a +word." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Burr fell silent. Suddenly he began to laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"Po' Farewell," he chuckled. "Theah will be some powdeh bu'nt befo' +the day is out." +</P> + +<P> +"How?" +</P> + +<P> +"Block. His pride has had a fall. Quite a few saw the tumble. An +o'dina'y man would tuck his tail between his legs and go elsewheah. +But the sheriff is not an o'dina'y man. He's too mean. In order to +reinstate himself in the affections of the townspeople he will feel +compelled to shoot one of them. Mahk my wo'ds, theah will be trouble +in the smoke fo' Farewell." +</P> + +<P> +"It can stand it. Outside o' Mike Flynn, an' Bill Lainey an' his wife, +there ain't a decent two-legged party in the whole place." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Burr nodded and turned an appreciative eye on Ranger. +</P> + +<P> +"That chestnut hoss ce'tainly does please me," he said. "I wish I'd +bought him myself. I do indeed." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +PARADISE BEND +</H4> + +<P> +Where the Dogsoldier River doubles on itself between Baldy Mountain and +the Government Hills sprawls the little town of Paradise Bend. Larger +than Farewell, it boasted of two stores, a Wells Fargo office, two +dance halls, and five saloons. The inevitable picket line of empty +bottles and tin cans encircled it, and its main street and three cross +streets were made unlovely by the familiar false fronts and waveringly +misspelt signs. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stared at the prospect with a pessimistic eye. Solitude—he had +parted with Captain Burr the previous day—and the introspection +engendered thereby had rendered him gloomy. The sulky devil that had +prompted him to seek a quarrel with Sheriff Block abode with him still. +Sullenly he checked his horse in front of the Chicago Store. +</P> + +<P> +"Mornin'," said Loudon, addressing a dilapidated ancient sitting on a +cracker box. "Can yuh tell me where Cap'n Burr lives?" +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy, stranger?" replied the elderly person, eying with extreme +disfavour the 88 brand on Ranger's hip. "I shore can. Ride on down +past the Three Card, turn to the left, an' keep a-goin'. It's the last +house." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon nodded and continued on his way. The ancient followed him with +alert eyes. +</P> + +<P> +When Loudon drew abreast of the Three Card Saloon a man issued from the +doorway, glimpsed Ranger's brand, and immediately hastened into the +street and greeted Loudon after the fashion of an old friend. +</P> + +<P> +"C'mon an' licker," invited the man, as Loudon checked his horse. +</P> + +<P> +"Now that's what I call meetin' yuh with a brass band," remarked +Loudon. "Do yuh always make a stranger to home this-away?" +</P> + +<P> +"Always," grinned the other. "I'm the reception committee." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm trailin' yuh," said Loudon, dismounting. +</P> + +<P> +He flung the reins over Ranger's head and followed the cordial +individual into the saloon. While they stood at the bar Loudon took +stock of the other man. +</P> + +<P> +He was a good-looking young fellow, strong-chinned, straight-mouthed, +with brown hair and eyes. His expression was winning, too winning, and +there was a certain knowing look in his eye that did not appeal to +Loudon. The latter drank his whisky slowly, his brain busily searching +for the key to the other man's conduct. +</P> + +<P> +"Gambler, I guess," he concluded. "I must look like ready money. +Here's where one tinhorn gets fooled." +</P> + +<P> +After commenting at some length on the extraordinary dryness of the +season, Loudon's bottle-acquaintance, under cover of the loud-voiced +conversation of three punchers at the other end of the bar, said in a +low tone: +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't Sam come?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stared. The other noted his mystification, and mistook it. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm Pete O'Leary," he continued. "It's all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore it is," conceded the puzzled Loudon. "My name's Loudon. Have +another." +</P> + +<P> +The knowing look in Pete O'Leary's eyes was displaced by one of +distrust. He drank abstractedly, mumbled an excuse about having to see +a man, and departed. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon bought half-a-dozen cigars, stuffed five into the pocket of his +shirt, lit the sixth, and went out to his horse. Puffing strongly, he +mounted and turned into the street designated by the dilapidated +ancient. As he loped past the corner he glanced over his shoulder. He +noted that not only was Pete O'Leary watching him from the window of a +dance hall, but that the tattered old person, leaning against a +hitching rail, was observing him also. +</P> + +<P> +"I might be a hoss-thief or somethin'," muttered Loudon with a frown. +"This shore is a queer village o' prairie dogs. The cigar's good, +anyway." Then, his horse having covered a hundred yards in the +interval, he quoted, "'Couldn't Sam come?' an', 'I'm Pete O'Leary.' +Sam, Sam, who's Sam? Now if Johnny Ramsay was here he'd have it all +figured out in no time." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Why, Mr. Loudon! Oh, wait! Do wait!" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon turned his head. In the doorway of a house stood a plump young +woman waving a frantic dish-cloth. Ranger, hard held, slid to a halt, +turned on a nickel, and shot back to the beckoning young woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, ma'am," said Loudon, removing his hat. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you remember me?" coquettishly pouted the plump lady. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon remembered her perfectly. She was Mrs. Mace, wife of Jim Mace, +a citizen of Paradise Bend. He had met her the year before when she +was visiting Kate Saltoun at the Bar S. He had not once thought of +Mrs. Mace since her departure from the ranch, and of course he had +completely forgotten that she lived in Paradise Bend. If he had +recalled the fact, he would have sought the Burrs' residence by some +other route. One of Kate's friends was the last person on earth he +cared to meet. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, I remember yuh, Mrs. Mace," said Loudon, gravely. "I'm right +glad to see yuh," he added, heavily polite. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you?" said the lady somewhat sharply. "Try to look happy then. I +ain't a grizzly, an' I don't bite folks. I won't stop you more'n a +second." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, ma'am, I am glad to see yuh," protested Loudon, "an' I ain't in +no hurry, honest." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right. I ain't offended. Say, how's Kate an' her pa?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fine when I saw 'em last. Kate's as pretty as ever." +</P> + +<P> +"She ought to be. She ain't married. Matrimony shore does rough up a +woman's figure an' face. Lord, I'm a good thirty pounds heavier than I +was when I saw you last. Say, do you know if Kate got that dress +pattern I sent her last month?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno, ma'am. I didn't hear her say." +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose not. I guess you two had more important things to talk +about. Say, how are you an' Kate gettin' along, anyway?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, all right, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon felt extremely unhappy. Mrs. Mace's keen gaze was embarrassing. +So was her next utterance. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I guess I'll write to Kate," remarked the lady, "an' find out +about that dress pattern. She always was a poor writer, but she'd +ought to have sent me a thank-you anyway, an' me her best friend. I'll +tell her I saw yuh, Mr. Loudon." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't tell her on my account," said Loudon. Then, realizing his +mistake, he continued hurriedly, "Shore, tell her. She'd enjoy +hearin', o' course." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't tell me you two haven't been quarrellin'," chided Mrs. Mace, +shaking a fat forefinger at Loudon. "You'd ought to be ashamed of +yourselves, rowin' this way." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, ma'am, yo're mistaken. Me quarrel? I guess not! But I got to +be goin'. Good-bye, ma'am. I'll see yuh again." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, raging, loped away. Meeting one of Kate's friends was bad +enough in itself. For the friend wantonly to flick him on the raw was +intolerable. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon began to believe that women were put into the world for the +purpose of annoying men. But when he had dismounted in front of the +best house on the street, and the door had been opened in response to +his knock, he changed his mind, for a brown-haired young girl with a +very pleasant smile was looking at him inquiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"Is this where Captain Burr lives?" queried Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied the girl, her smile broadening. +</P> + +<P> +"Then here's a letter for Mis' Burr. The Cap'n asked me to bring it up +for him." +</P> + +<P> +"A letter for me?" exclaimed a sharp voice, and the speaker, a tall, +angular, harsh-featured woman, appeared at the girl's side with the +suddenness of a Jack-in-the-box. "From Benjamin?" continued the +harsh-featured woman, uttering her words with the rapidity of a +machine-gun's fire. "How is he? When d'you see him last? When's he +comin' home?" +</P> + +<P> +"Heavens, Ma!" laughed the girl, before Loudon could make any reply. +"Give the poor man a chance to breathe." +</P> + +<P> +"You got to excuse me, stranger," said Mrs. Burr. "But I'm always so +worried about Benjamin when he's travellin'. He's so venturesome. But +come in, stranger. Come in an' rest yore hat. Dinner's 'most ready." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, thank yuh, ma'am," stuttered the embarrassed Loudon. "But I +guess I'll go to the hotel." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess yuh won't!" snapped Mrs. Burr. "I never let one o' my +husband's friends 'cept Scotty Mackenzie eat at the hotel yet, an' I +ain't goin' to begin now. You'll just come right inside an' tell me +all about Benjamin while yo're eatin'. That your hoss? Well, the +corral's behind the house. Dorothy, you go with the gentleman an' see +that he don't stampede." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, brick-red beneath his tan, seized Ranger's bridle and followed +Miss Burr to the corral. While he was unsaddling he looked up and +caught her eying him amusedly. He grinned and she laughed outright. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad you didn't stampede," she said, her brown eyes twinkling. +"Mother would have been heart-broken if you had. Whenever any of Dad's +friends are in town they never think of eating at the hotel—except +Scotty Mackenzie. Scotty stubbornly refuses to dine with us. He says +mother's cooking takes away his appetite for what he calls ranch grub. +Mother is really a wonderful cook. You'll see." +</P> + +<P> +In this manner was the ice broken, and Loudon's sullen gloom had gone +from him by the time he entered the Burr kitchen. On the Turkey-red +tablecloth a broiled steak, surrounded by roasted potatoes, reposed on +a platter. Flanking the platter were a bowl of peas and a large dish +of sliced beets adrip with butter sauce. Loudon's eyes opened wide in +amazement. Never in all his life had he beheld such an appetizing +array of edibles. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks good, don't it?" beamed Mrs. Burr. +</P> + +<P> +It was wonderful how her smile transformed her forbidding features. To +Loudon she appeared as a benevolent angel. He could only nod dumbly. +</P> + +<P> +"Set now, an' don't be afraid o' the victuals," continued Mrs. Burr, +filling the coffee-cups. "It all has to be et, an' I shore do hate to +chuck out good grub. Lord, it makes me feel fine to cook for a man +again! What did you say yore name is, Mister? ... Loudon, o' course; I +never can catch a name the first time. I always got to hear it twice. +Dorothy, you reach over an' dish out them peas an' beets. Take that +piece of steak next the bone, Mister Loudon. Like gravy on yore +'taters? Most do. My man does, special. Here's a spoon. Dorothy, +pass the bread." +</P> + +<P> +Everything tasted even better than it looked. Loudon ate a second +piece of dried-apple pie, and had a fourth cup of coffee to top off +with. To the puncher it had been a marvellous dinner. No wonder +Scotty Mackenzie demurred at dining with the Burrs. After one such +meal sowbelly and Miners Delights would be as bootsole and buckshot. +</P> + +<P> +"You can smoke right here," said Mrs. Burr, after Loudon had refused a +fifth cup of coffee. "Shove yore chair back agin' the wall, hook up +yore feet, an' be happy while Dorothy an' I wash the dishes. I like to +see a man comfortable, I do. So you know my brother. Well, well, +ain't the world a small place? How're Jack an' the Cross-in-a-box +makin' out? He never thinks to write, Jack Richie don't, the lazy +rapscallion. Wait till I set eyes on him. I'll tell him a thing or +two." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, in no haste to find Scotty Mackenzie, was smoking his fifth +cigarette when the dilapidated ancient of the cracker box stuck his +head in the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy, Mis' Burr?" said the ancient. "Howdy, Dorothy?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Lo, Scotty," chorused the two women. "Let me make yuh acquainted +with Mr. Loudon, Scotty," continued Mrs. Burr. "Mr. Loudon, shake +hands with Mr. Mackenzie." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon gripped hands with the ragged ancient. In the latter's bright +blue eyes was no friendliness. +</P> + +<P> +He acknowledged the introduction with careful politeness, and sat down +on a chair in a corner. Having deftly rolled a cigarette, he flipped +the match through the doorway, tilted back his chair, remarked that the +weather was powerful dry, and relapsed into silence. He took no +further part in the conversation. +</P> + +<P> +At the end of the kitchen, between the windows, hung a small mirror. +Loudon, idly watching the two women as they moved about resetting the +table, happened to glance at the mirror. In it he saw reflected the +face of Scotty Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +The features were twisted into an almost demoniac expression of hate. +Slowly Loudon turned his head. Mackenzie, his eyes on the floor, was +smoking, his expression one of serene well-being. +</P> + +<P> +"He don't like me any," decided Loudon, and pondered the advisability +of asking Mackenzie for a job. +</P> + +<P> +It was not Mackenzie's lack of friendliness that gave Loudon pause. It +was the man's appearance. Even for the West, where attire does not +make the man, Mackenzie had not an inspiring presence. His trousers +showed several patches and a rip or two. His vest was in a worse state +than his trousers. His blue flannel shirt had turned green in spots, +and the left sleeve had once belonged to a red flannel undershirt. Two +holes yawned in the corner of his floppy-brimmed hat, and his boots, +run over at the heels, would have shamed a tramp. +</P> + +<P> +That this economically garbed individual could prove a good employer +seemed doubtful. Yet he had been recommended by Jack Richie. +</P> + +<P> +Mackenzie suddenly mumbled that he guessed he'd better be going, and +rose to his feet. Loudon followed him into the street. Mackenzie +halted and half-turned as Loudon caught up with him. Loudon noted that +the ancient's hand was closer to his gun-butt than politeness and the +circumstances warranted. +</P> + +<P> +"Hirin' any men?" inquired Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"I might," replied Mackenzie, the pupils of his blue eyes shrunk to +pin-points. "Who, for instance?" +</P> + +<P> +"Me for one." +</P> + +<P> +Mackenzie continued to stare. Loudon, who never lowered his eyes to +any man, steadily returned the ancient's gaze. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're hired," said Mackenzie, suddenly. "Git yore hoss. I'll meet +yuh at the corner o' Main Street." +</P> + +<P> +Mackenzie walked rapidly away, and Loudon returned to the house of the +Burrs. He took his leave of the two engaging women, the elder of whom +pressed him repeatedly to come again, and went out to the corral. +</P> + +<P> +While Loudon awaited his employer's arrival at the corner of Main +Street he saw Pete O'Leary emerge from the doorway of the Three Card +Saloon and walk toward him. But the young man of the knowing brown eye +did not cross the street. He nodded to Loudon and swung round the +corner. +</P> + +<P> +The Lazy River man shifted sidewise in the saddle and followed him with +his eyes. Pete O'Leary interested Loudon. Folk that are mysterious +will bear watching, and O'Leary's manner during his conversation with +Loudon had been perplexingly vague. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I wonder where that nice-lookin' young fellah is goin'?" debated +Loudon. "Burrs', for a plugged nickel! Yep, there he goes in the +door. Well, Mis' Burr ain't a fool, but if I owned a good-lookin' +daughter, that Pete O'Leary ain't just the right brand o' party I'd +want should come a-skirmishin' round." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's mental soliloquy was cut short by the arrival of Mackenzie. +The ancient's appalling disregard for his personal appearance did not +extend to his mount and saddlery. His horse was a handsome bay. The +saddle he sat in was a Billings swell-fork tree, with a silver horn, +silver conchas, carved leather skirts and cantle, and snowflake leather +strings. The bridle was a split-ear, with a nose-band even more +marvellously carved than the saddle, and it sported a blue steel bit, +silver inlaid, and eighteen-inch rein-chains. The most exacting dandy +in cowland could not have obtained better equipment. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond a momentless sentence or two Mackenzie said nothing as he and +his new hand rode out into the valley of the Dogsoldier. He maintained +his silence till Loudon, muttering that his cinches required +tightening, checked Ranger and dismounted. +</P> + +<P> +"Throw up yore hands!" was the harsh order that fell on Loudon's +astonished ears. +</P> + +<P> +Hands above his head, Loudon turned slowly and stared into the muzzle +of a well-kept six-shooter. Behind the gun gleamed the frosty blue +eyes of Scotty Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"Got anythin' to say before I leave yuh?" inquired Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"That depends on how yuh leave me," countered Loudon. "If yo're just +aimin' to say, 'So long,' yuh can't go too quick. Yo're a mite too +abrupt to suit me. But if yore intention is hostile, then I got a +whole lot to say." +</P> + +<P> +"Hostile it is, young feller. Trot out yore speech." +</P> + +<P> +"That's handsome enough for a dog. First, I'd shore admire to know why +yo're hostile." +</P> + +<P> +"You know." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't yet," denied Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +Scotty Mackenzie stared woodenly. His features betrayed no hint of his +purpose. He might have been gazing at a cow or a calf or the kitchen +stove. Nevertheless Loudon realized that the amazing old man was +within a whisper of pulling trigger. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh see," observed Loudon, forcing his lips to smile pleasantly, "it +ain't the goin' away I mind so much—it's the not knowin' why. I get +off to fix cinches, an' yuh throw down on me. I ain't done nothin' to +yuh—I ain't never seen yuh before, an' I don't believe I've ever met +up with any o' yore relations, so——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're from the 88," interrupted Mackenzie. "That's enough!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bein' from the 88," said Loudon, "is shore a bad recommend for any +man. But it just happens I'm from the Bar S. I never have rode for +the 88, an' I don't think I ever will." +</P> + +<P> +"What are yuh doin' with a 88 hoss?" pursued the unrelenting Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"88 hoss? Why, that little hoss is my hoss. I bought him from the 88." +</P> + +<P> +"The brand ain't vented." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it ain't. At the time I bought him I didn't expect to have to +tell the story o' my life to every old bushwhacker in the territory, or +I shore would 'a' had that brand vented." +</P> + +<P> +The six-shooter in Mackenzie's hand remained steady. In his chill blue +eyes was no flicker of indecision. Loudon was still smiling, but he +felt that his end was near. +</P> + +<P> +"Say," said Loudon, "when you've done left me, I wish yuh'd send my +hoss an' saddle to Johnny Ramsay o' the Cross in-a-box. Johnny's at +the Bar S now—got a few holes in him. But you send the hoss to Jack +Richie an' tell him to keep him for Johnny till he comes back. Don't +mind doin' that, do yuh? Ain't aimin' to keep the cayuse, are yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know Johnny Ramsay?" queried Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"Ought to. Johnny an' me've been friends for years." +</P> + +<P> +"Know Jack Richie?" +</P> + +<P> +"Know him 'most as well as I do Johnny. An' I know Cap'n Burr, too. +Didn't yuh see me there at his house?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Cap'n knows lots o' folks, an' it ain't hard to scrape +acquaintance with a couple o' soft-hearted women." +</P> + +<P> +"I brought up a letter from Cap'n Burr to his wife. You ask her." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, shore. Yuh might 'a' carried a letter an' still be what I take +yuh for.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Now we're back where we started. What do yuh take me for?" +</P> + +<P> +Mackenzie made no reply. Again there fell between the two men that +spirit-breaking silence. It endured a full five minutes, to be broken +finally by Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"Git aboard yore hoss," said the ranch-owner. "An' don't go after no +gun." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd rather draw what's comin' to me on the ground," objected Loudon. +"It ain't so far to fall." +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't nothin' comin' to yuh yet. Git aboard, go on to the ranch, an' +tell my foreman, Doubleday, I sent yuh, an' that I won't be back yet +awhile." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't so shore I want to work for yuh now." +</P> + +<P> +"There ain't no two ways about it. You'll either give me yore word to +go on to the ranch an' stay there till I come, or yuh'll stay right +here. After I come back yuh can quit if yuh like." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a harp with another tune entirely. I'll go yuh." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon turned to his horse and swung into the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep a-goin' along this trail," directed Mackenzie, his six-shooter +still covering Loudon. "It's about eight mile to the ranch." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon did not look back as he rode away. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE AMAZING MACKENZIE +</H4> + +<P> +Doubleday, a squat man with a sharp nose and a sharper eye, evinced no +surprise at his employer's message. He merely swore resignedly on +learning that Mackenzie had not sent in the mail by Loudon, and in the +same breath thanked his Maker that a new man had arrived. +</P> + +<P> +The advent of Loudon was most opportune, according to Doubleday. For, +one "Lanky" having taken a wife and removed to the Sweet River Agency, +the Flying M was a man short. +</P> + +<P> +"Turn yore hoss into the big corral," said Doubleday, when he had +sufficiently condemned the foolishness of Lanky, "an' take yore saddle +over to the bunkhouse. There's three empty bunks. Help yoreself. +Then c'mon over to the little corral an' bring yore rope. Got an +outlaw stallion with a cut hind leg, an' it's a two-man job." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon found favour in the eyes of Doubleday. The former Bar S puncher +did his work easily and well. He proved a better roper than Doubleday, +and he was the equal in horsemanship of "Telescope" Laguerre, the +half-breed buster. +</P> + +<P> +With Laguerre, Loudon struck up an instant friendship. +Telescope—which name was the natural transformation undergone by +Telesphore in a Western climate—was a long lean man, with the straight +black hair and the swarthy complexion of his Indian mother and the +mobile features and facile speech and gestures of his French father. +When Loudon had been at the Flying M three days Telescope suggested +that they ride to town in the evening. +</P> + +<P> +"We weel go to de dance hall," said Laguerre. "Fine woman dere. We +weel dance a leetle, we weel dreenk de w'iskey, un we weel have de good +tam. By gar, I not been to town for two mont. Wat your say, Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd shore enjoy goin' along, Telescope, but I can't," replied Loudon, +mindful of his promise to Scotty Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"Dat ees all right," said the large-hearted half-breed. "She ees my +treat. I have more as one hundred dollar, un by gar! I wan' for to +spen' eet. You are my frien'. You help me for spen' eet. We weel +burn up de dance hall." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm not broke," said Loudon. "I'll go with yuh another time." +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre, being wise in his generation, forbore to insist, and rode to +town alone. The cook predicted a three-day orgy. +</P> + +<P> +"Rats!" said Doubleday. "Yuh don't know Telescope. He never gets +drunk. He can't. He sops it up an' he sops it up, an' it don't bother +him a mite. Wish I had his gift. Why, I've seen him tuck away a quart +o' killer inside o' three hours, an' then hop out with his rope an' +fasten on a hoss any leg you tell him. He's a walkin' miracle, +Telescope is, an' he'll be back in the mornin'." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, oiling his saddle in front of the bunkhouse, glanced casually +at the cook standing in the doorway, and wondered for the twentieth +time where he had seen the man before. On his arrival at the Flying M, +Loudon had sensed that, in a vague way, the cook's face was familiar. +First impressions had taken no concrete form. He could not remember +where or under what circumstances he had seen the cook. But that he +had seen him, he was certain. +</P> + +<P> +The cook's name was Rufe Cutting. Which name, however, was not +enlightening. Idly speculating, Loudon went on with his work. The +cook returned to the kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre bore out the statement of Doubleday. He returned while the +men were saddling in the morning. He did not appear in the least +degree wearied. Hurriedly changing his saddle to a fresh horse, he +rode away with Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"By gar!" exclaimed Laguerre. "I have de fine tam. I dance, I dreenk +de w'iskey, un I play de pokair wit' Pete O'Leary un two odder men un I +tak' deir money. I ween feefty dollar. By gar! I am glad I go to +town, me." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh shore ought to be," said Loudon. "Fifty dollars. That's right +good hearin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Pete O'Leary she wan' for know 'bout you," continued Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +"Pete O'Leary asked about me! What did he say, huh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, she not say eet plain. She walk een de watair. But I have been +de scout; I have leeve wit Enjun; I know w'at ees een ees head. She +talk 'bout Lanky quittin' de Flyin' M, un she wan' for know have Scotty +hired new man. She say she see Scotty ride out wit' you, un she know +you name. But I not say much. I tell Pete O'Leary to ask Scotty 'bout +hees business, un I not say eef you work for de Flyin' M or not. For I +tink mabbeso Pete O'Leary she ees not frien' to you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he ain't strictly hostyle anyway," said Loudon, and he forthwith +told Laguerre of his meeting with Pete O'Leary and of the latter's +strange actions. +</P> + +<P> +"Dat ees varree fonny," commented Laguerre. "Pete O'Leary she was +expectin' de frien' or de message mabbee. But dat ees not so fonny as +hees askin' 'bout you so moch. She worry 'bout you, un dat ees fonny. +Why she worry eef she hones' man? I tell you, my frien', I do not +trus' dat Pete O'Leary. I would watch heem. I would watch heem varree +sharp." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't believe it means anythin'," doubted Loudon. "But I'll +keep an eye skinned for him." +</P> + +<P> +"You better, my frien', or mabbeso some tam she skeen you." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +A week later Mackenzie returned. That evening, after supper, Doubleday +told Loudon that Scotty wanted to see him. Mackenzie, chair tilted, +feet propped on the table, his hands clasped behind his head, was +staring up at the ceiling when Loudon entered the office. The chair +descended on four legs with a crash, and the ancient arose briskly. +</P> + +<P> +"Stranger," said Mackenzie, his blue eyes no longer frosty, "I was +mistaken. Yo're a gent an' a white man, an' I ain't holdin' out +nothin'. Shake." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon grinned and shook hands. He was satisfied with the other's +apology. +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," said the puncher. "I knowed yuh mistook me for +somebody else. But I'd shore admire to know, if it ain't private, who +yuh thought I was." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't mind tellin' yuh. I ain't ever talked about it much. Dunno +why. No reason why I shouldn't. Sit down, Loudon, an' I'll tell yuh. +When I first seen yuh there in Main Street that 88 brand on yore hoss +made me suspicious. +</P> + +<P> +"Sam Blakely o' the 88 an' me ain't friends. We had a run-in some +eight years ago over at Virginia City, an' I kind o' left Sam the worse +for wear. I heard later how Sam was yellin' 'round that he'd get even. +Knowin' Sam, I believed it. An' when I seen you ridin' a 88 hoss, I +says to myself, 'Here's Sam done gone an' hired a party to do the +gettin' even.' When yuh wanted to ride for me, I was shore of it. +</P> + +<P> +"So when you got down to fix yore cinches I expected to be plugged the +next second, an' I throwed down on yuh. Yore askin' me to send yore +hoss an' saddle to Johnny Ramsay was what stopped me. I knowed if +Johnny was a friend o' yores you was all right. So I sent yuh on, an' +I trailed yuh clear to the ranch. If you'd turned back I'd 'a' downed +yuh. But yuh didn't turn back. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, after I seen yuh talkin' to Doubleday—— Shore; yuh know that +little hill about half-a-mile south? I was on top of it with a pair of +field glasses—after I seen yuh talkin' to Doubleday, I moseyed south +again to the Cross-in-a-box." +</P> + +<P> +"Two hundred miles!" exclaimed Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"About that," said Mackenzie, easily, quite as if a four-hundred-mile +ride in ten days were an afternoon jaunt. "Yuh see, I wanted to talk +to Jack Richie. Didn't want to go to the Bar S if I could help it. Me +an' Saltoun never did pull together. He thinks I'm a fool, an' I know +he's crazy. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I talked with Jack, an' he explained everythin'. Said who yuh +was an' how yuh'd bought yore hoss from the 88 an' how yuh'd creased +Sam Blakely, an' all. That was fine work. Too bad yuh didn't down him +for good. He's a varmint. Worse'n a rattler. Yuh'd ought to 'a' +plugged Marvin, too, after him tryin' to make yuh out a rustler +that-away. A sport like that'll stand shootin' any day. What's the +matter?" +</P> + +<P> +For Loudon was amazedly staring at Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"Four hundred miles both ways," said the puncher, "to see whether a +forty-five-dollar-a-month hand was tellin' the truth!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh was more than a hand," rejoined Mackenzie, with a slight smile. +"Yuh was opportunity, with a big O. Yuh see, when yuh asked for a job +I needed a man. I needed him bad. I was shore yuh was out to down me. +But when yuh said yuh knowed Johnny an' I changed my mind about +droppin' yuh, it come to me, provided you was straight, that you was +just the feller for me. You was sent to me, like. You was +Opportunity, see? +</P> + +<P> +"An' I ain't never passed up an opportunity that I ain't been sorry. +I'm kind o' superstitious thataway now, an' I'll go out o' my way to +grab what I think looks like an opportunity. I knowed I couldn't rest +easy till I found out somethin' about yuh. So I done it. An' I'm —— +glad I done it. +</P> + +<P> +"Doubleday tells me yo're the best roper he ever seen, an' yo're a +wonder with the stallions. A good man with stallions is somethin' I've +wished for ever since I owned the Flyin' M. I never had him till you +come. Opportunity! I guess yuh was, an' then a few. Now I don't know +whether yuh care about stayin', but I shore hope yuh will. I'll see +that yuh don't regret it." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore I'll stay," said Loudon. "Them stallions is where I live." +</P> + +<P> +"Then fifty-five a month goes for you from now on." +</P> + +<P> +In this auspicious fashion began Loudon's life at the Flying M. Yet +Loudon was not precisely happy. The cheerfulness induced by the +whole-hearted Burrs had been but temporary. He brooded over his +wrongs, and that is bad for a man. Like all men who believe themselves +hard hit, he did not realize that there are a great many lonesome +ladies in the world, any one of whom will make a man utterly happy. +</P> + +<P> +One young woman had proved to be an arrant flirt, therefore all young +women were flirts, and beauty was a snare and a delusion. So reasoned +Loudon. Surrendering almost wholly to his mood, he rarely took part in +the general conversation in the bunkhouse. The men wondered at his +aloofness, but none essayed to draw him out. His smoldering gray eyes +forbade any such familiarity. When riding the range with Laguerre, +however, Loudon would emerge from his shell, and a strong friendship +swiftly grew up between the two. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +One day, nearly two weeks after Mackenzie's return from the +Cross-in-a-box, Loudon was in the blacksmith shop making a set of shoes +for Ranger when Pete O'Leary rode up to the doorway and peered in. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello," said O'Leary, cheerily. "How's tricks?" +</P> + +<P> +"Comin' in bunches," replied Loudon, shortly, and he blew the bellows +vigorously. +</P> + +<P> +"That's good. Hot, ain't it? Well, I got to be weavin' along. So +long." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon walked to the doorway and watched O'Leary till he disappeared +among the cottonwoods fringing the bank of the Dogsoldier. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I'd admire to know," he wondered, "if Pete O'Leary stopped here +just to ask how tricks was. He kind o' looked at yore brand, too, +fellah," he added, addressing Ranger. +</P> + +<P> +Thoughtfully he returned to his work. Five minutes later he whacked +his knee and whistled. Comprehension had at last come to him. He +marvelled that it had not come sooner. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, why didn't I think o' that quicker?" he muttered. "It was that +88 brand on Ranger's hip that made Scotty suspicious. So it was that +brand must 'a' made O'Leary freeze to me when I sifted into the Bend. +'Couldn't Sam come?' Sam Blakely o' the 88! An' I never seen it till +just now." +</P> + +<P> +The moves of an enemy are always interesting. Even more thoughtfully +than before, Loudon pumped the handle of the bellows. Why was Blakely +coming to Paradise Bend? To settle his score with Scotty Mackenzie? +Loudon doubted it. A newly engaged man does not, as a rule, jeopardize +his future happiness by reopening old issues. +</P> + +<P> +Whatever the precise nature of Blakely's purpose might be, it was dark +and Machiavellian in the main. O'Leary's peculiar actions in the Three +Card Saloon evinced as much. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see how it could have anythin' to do with me," puzzled Loudon. +"Sam couldn't 'a' knowed I was comin' to the Bend. I didn't know +myself till just before I started. Yet here's O'Leary askin' Telescope +about me an' skirmishin' over to see if I am at the Flyin' M. It shore +is a heap mysterious." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon decided to talk it over with Scotty Mackenzie. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AUTHORS OF CONFUSION +</H4> + +<P> +When Loudon went to the office that evening he found Doubleday alone. +"Scotty's gone," said Doubleday, in response to Loudon's question. +"He's traipsin' over to the Seven Lazy Seven. Wants to get rid o' some +of our no-account stock." +</P> + +<P> +"When'll he be back?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dunno. He may take in the Two Bar, Wagonwheel, T V U, an' the Double +Diamond K before he comes back, He might stay away a week, or three +weeks, or a month. Yuh can't keep tabs on Scotty. I tried to once, +but I give it up long ago." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon did not take the garrulous Doubleday into his confidence. Nor +did he mention the matter to Laguerre. The half-breed had seen O'Leary +ride up to the blacksmith shop, and his Gallic curiosity was aroused to +the full. +</P> + +<P> +"My frien'," said Laguerre, when Loudon and he were mending a break in +the corral fence the following day, "my frien', I wan' for tell you +somethin'. Somethin' mabbeso you not see. Yes'erday O'Leary she come +to de ranch; she go to de blacksmith shop. I see heem before she go to +de blacksmith shop. I see heem aftair. Before she see you dere een de +shop hees face was de face of de man who ees not satisfy, who ees hunt +for somethin'. Wen I see heem aftair, she look satisfy. She has foun' +w'at she hunt for. Are you me?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"O'Leary's takin' a heap o' trouble on my account," he said, slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"More dan I t'ought she would," vouchsafed Laguerre. "I tell you, Tom, +she have not de good feelin' for you. Were ees dat damn hammair gone?" +</P> + +<P> +Three weeks later, Loudon and Laguerre were lazily enjoying the cool of +the evening outside the door of the bunkhouse when Doubleday came +striding toward them. In one hand the foreman waved a letter. He +appeared to be annoyed. He was. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, Scotty wants yuh to meet him at the Bend Tuesday—that's +to-morrow," said Doubleday, crossly. "Yuh'll find him at the Three +Card. —— it to ——! An' I wanted you an' Telescope to ride the +north range to-morrow! Which that Scotty Mackenzie is shore the most +unexpected gent! Says he wants yuh to ride yore own hoss. Dunno what +he wants yuh for. He don't say. Just says meet him." +</P> + +<P> +Doubleday departed, swearing. +</P> + +<P> +"Pore old Doubleday," drawled a bristle-haired youth named Swing +Tunstall. "He gets a heap displeased with Scotty sometimes." +</P> + +<P> +"Scotty ain't just regular in his ways," commented Giant Morton, a +dwarfish man with tremendously long arms. "Scotty wasn't goin' beyond +the Wagonwheel, if he got that far, an' his letter was mailed in +Rocket, fifty miles south. I brought her in from the Bend this +aft'noon, an' I noticed the postmark special." +</P> + +<P> +"He wears the raggedest clo'es I ever seen," said the cook. "An' he's +got money, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Money!" exclaimed Morton. "He's lousy with money. Wish I had it. Do +yuh know what I'd do? I'd buy me a seventeen-hand hoss an' a saloon." +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't," said Loudon, winking at Laguerre. "I'd have a <I>hacienda</I> +down in old Mexico, an' I'd hire half-a-dozen good-lookin' <I>seņoritas</I> +with black hair an' blue eyes to play tunes for me on banjos, an' I'd +hire cookie here to come an' wake me up every mornin' at five o'clock +just so's I could have the pleasure o' heavin' him out o' the window +an' goin' back to sleep." +</P> + +<P> +By which it may be seen that the moody Loudon was becoming more human. +His remarks irritated the cook, who rather fancied himself. He allowed +himself to be the more provoked because of a growing belief that +Loudon's habitually retiring and inoffensive manner denoted a lack of +mettle. Which mental attitude was shared by none of the others. +</P> + +<P> +At Loudon's careless words the cook bounced up from his seat on the +doorsill and assumed a crouching position in front of Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh couldn't throw nothin'!" yapped the man of pots and pans. "Yuh +couldn't throw a fit, let alone me! An' I want yuh to understand I can +throw any bowlegged misfit that ever wore hair pants!" +</P> + +<P> +"What did yuh throw 'em with—yore mouth?" inquired Loudon, gently. +</P> + +<P> +The Lazy River man had not moved from his seat on the washbench. His +arms remained folded across his chest. He smiled pleasantly at the +irate cook. +</P> + +<P> +"I throwed 'em like I'm goin' to throw you!" frothed the hot-tempered +one. "That is," he added, sneeringly, "if yuh ain't afraid." +</P> + +<P> +The bristle-haired Tunstall sprang between the two. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't mind him, Loudon!" he cried. "He's only a fool idjit, but he's +a good cook, an' losin' him would be a calamity. He don't never pack +no gun neither." +</P> + +<P> +"I can see he ain't heeled," said Loudon, calmly. "But he shore talks +just like a regular man, don't he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Regular man!" bellowed the cook. "Why——" +</P> + +<P> +The sentence ended in a gurgle. For Tunstall, Morton, and Laguerre had +hurled themselves upon the cook and gagged him with the crown of a hat. +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't yuh got no sense at all?" growled Morton. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tsall right," grinned Loudon, rising to his feet. "I understand. +Turn yore bull loose." +</P> + +<P> +The three doubtfully released the cook. That misguided man promptly +lowered his head, spread wide his arms, and charged at Loudon. The +puncher sidestepped neatly and gave the cook's head a smart downward +shove with the palm of his hand. The cook's face plowed the earth. +</P> + +<P> +Spitting dirt and gravel he scrambled up and plunged madly at his +elusive adversary. This time Loudon did not budge. +</P> + +<P> +Even as the cook gripped him round the waist Loudon leaned forward +along the cook's back, seized the slack of his trousers, and up-ended +him. The cook's hold was broken, and again his head collided violently +with the ground. He fell in a huddle, but arose instantly, his +stubborn spirit unshaken. Now he did not rush. He approached the +puncher warily. +</P> + +<P> +Swaying on his high heels Loudon waited. Then run, with a pantherlike +leap, he flung himself forward, drove both arms beneath those of the +cook and clipped him round the body. The cook strove for a +strangle-hold, but Loudon forestalled the attempt by hooking his chin +over his opponent's shoulder. Legs apart, Loudon lifted and squeezed. +</P> + +<P> +Gradually, as Loudon put forth all his great strength, the breath of +the cook was expelled from his cracking chest in gasps and wheezes. +His muscles relaxed, his face became distorted, empurpled. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon released his grip. The cook fell limply and lay on his back, +arms outspread, his crushed lungs fighting for air. In the struggle +his shirt had been ripped across, and now his chest and one shoulder +were exposed. Loudon, gazing down at the prostrate man, started +slightly, then stooped and looked more closely at the broad triangle of +breast. +</P> + +<P> +Abruptly Loudon turned away and resumed his seat on the bench. After a +time the cook rolled over, staggered to his feet, and reeled into the +bunkhouse without a word. +</P> + +<P> +No one commented on the wrestling-match. Swing Tunstall started a +cheerful reminiscence of his last trip to the Bend. Laguerre rose and +passed silently round the corner of the bunkhouse. Loudon, chin on +hand, stared off into the distance. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, within the bunkhouse, there was the thump of feet followed in +quick succession by a thud and a grunt. Out through the doorway the +cook tumbled headlong, fell flat, and lay motionless, his nose in the +dirt, his boot-toes on the doorsill. One outflung hand still clutched +the butt of a six-shooter. From a gash on the back of his head the +blood oozed slowly. +</P> + +<P> +Issued then Laguerre from the doorway. The half-breed was in his +stocking feet. He wrenched the gun from the cook's fingers, stuffed +the weapon into the waistband of his trousers, and squatted down on his +heels. +</P> + +<P> +None of the onlookers had moved. Gravely they regarded Laguerre and +the cook. Loudon realized that he had narrowly escaped being shot in +the back. A farce had developed into melodrama. +</P> + +<P> +At this juncture Doubleday strolled leisurely out of the office. At +sight of the fallen man and the serious group at the bunkhouse he +quickened his steps. +</P> + +<P> +"Who done it?" demanded Doubleday, severely, for he believed the cook +to be dead. +</P> + +<P> +"I heet heem on de head wit' my gun," explained Laguerre. "Loudon she +t'row de cook. De cook she geet varree mad un go een de bunkhouse. I +t'ink mabbeso she do somethin' un I go roun' de bunkhouse, tak' off my +boots, un crawl een de side window. De cook she was jus' run for door +wit' hees gun een hees han'. I stop heem." +</P> + +<P> +Complacently Laguerre gazed upon the still unconscious cook. +</P> + +<P> +"The kyote!" exclaimed Doubleday. "That's what comes o' not havin' any +sense o' humour! —— his soul! Now I got to fire him. Trouble! +Trouble! Nothin' but ——" +</P> + +<P> +The discouraged foreman slumped down beside Loudon and rolled a +cigarette with vicious energy. +</P> + +<P> +Some ten minutes later the cook stirred, rolled over, and sat up. He +stared with dull eyes at the men on the bench. Stupidly he fingered +the cut at the back of his head. As deadened senses revived and memory +returned, his back stiffened, and defiance blazed up in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Telescope," said Loudon, "I'd take it as a favour if yuh'd give him +his gun—an' his cartridges." +</P> + +<P> +The cook lost his defiant look when the half-breed complied with +Loudon's request. Helplessly he eyed the gun a moment, then, struck +with a bright idea, he waggled his right wrist and grimaced as if with +pain. Gingerly he rubbed the wrist-bone. +</P> + +<P> +"Sprained my wrist," he stated brazenly. "Can't shoot with my left +hand nohow. If I could, I'd shore enjoy finishin' up. Helluva note +this is! I start for to shoot it out with a gent, an' one o' you +sports whangs me over the head an' lays me out. I'd admire to know +which one o' yuh done it." +</P> + +<P> +"I done eet," Laguerre informed him, his white teeth flashing under his +black mustache. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll remember yuh," said the cook with dignity. "I'll remember you +too," he added looking at Loudon. "Doubleday, I'd like my time. I +ain't a-goin' to cook for this bunch no longer. An' if it's all the +same to you I'll take a hoss for part o' my pay." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, by ——!" exclaimed Doubleday, hugely annoyed at being thus +forestalled. "You've got a nerve. You ought to be hung!" +</P> + +<P> +"Any gent does who works for the Flying M," countered the cook. "But +I'm quittin'. Do I get the hoss!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh bet yuh do. An' yo're hittin' the trail to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"The sooner the quicker." +</P> + +<P> +Within half an hour Rufe Cutting, erstwhile cook at the Flying M, a +bandage under his hat, mounted his horse and rode away toward Paradise +Bend. As he vanished in the gathering dusk, Swing Tunstall laughed +harshly. +</P> + +<P> +"All yaller an' a yard wide!" observed Giant Morton, and spat +contemptuously. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon made no comment. He was working out a puzzle, and he was making +very little headway. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In the morning he saddled Ranger and started for the Bend. He followed +the trail for a mile or two, then, fording the Dogsoldier, he struck +across the flats where a few of Mackenzie's horses grazed. He did not +turn his horse's head toward Paradise Bend till the Dogsoldier was well +out of rifle-range. Loudon's caution was pardonable. Rufe Cutting +knew that he was to ride to the Bend, and Rufe had a rifle. Loudon had +marked him tying it in his saddle-strings. +</P> + +<P> +It was quite within the bounds of possibility that the cunning Rufe was +at that very moment lying in wait somewhere among the cottonwoods on +the bank of the Dogsoldier, for the trail in many places swung close to +the creek. Decidedly, the trail was no fit route for any one at odds +with a citizen of the Cutting stamp. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, when he drew near the Bend, circled back to the creek and +entered the town by the Farewell trail. +</P> + +<P> +He dismounted in front of the Three Card, anchored Ranger to the +ground, and went into the saloon. Several men were standing at the +bar. They ceased talking at his entrance. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon leaned both elbows on the bar and demanded liquor. He sensed a +certain tenseness, a vague chill in the atmosphere. The bartender, his +eyes looking anywhere but at Loudon, served him hastily. The bartender +seemed nervous. Bottle and glass rattled as he placed them on the bar. +</P> + +<P> +"Scotty Mackenzie come in yet?" inquired Loudon of the bartender, +setting down his empty glass. +</P> + +<P> +"N-no," quavered the bartender, shrilly. "I ain't seen him." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stared at the bartender. What was the matter with the man? His +face was the colour of gray wrapping-paper. Loudon turned and glanced +along the bar at the other customers. Two of them were regarding him, +a rapt fascination in their expressions. Swiftly the two men averted +their eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon hesitated an instant, then he wheeled and walked out of the +saloon. As he crossed the sidewalk he noticed a group of men standing +near by. He stooped to pick up his reins. When he straightened there +was a sudden rustle and a whisk in his rear. Something settled over +his shoulders and drew taut, pinning his arms to his sides. +</P> + +<P> +"What in——" swore Loudon, and began to struggle furiously. +</P> + +<P> +He was at once jerked over on his back. He fell heavily. The shock +partially stunned him. Dazedly he gazed upward into a ring of faces. +The features of all save one were blurred. And that face was the face +of Block, the Sheriff of Fort Creek County. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon felt a tugging at his belt and knew that one was removing his +six-shooter. He was pulled upright, his hands were wrenched together, +and before he was aware of what was taking place, his wrists were in +handcuffs. Now his faculties returned with a rush. +</P> + +<P> +"What seems to be the trouble, anyway?" he demanded of the crowd in +general. +</P> + +<P> +"It seems yo're a hoss thief," replied a brown-bearded man wearing a +star on the left lapel of his vest. +</P> + +<P> +"Who says so?" +</P> + +<P> +"This gent." The brown-bearded man pointed at Block. +</P> + +<P> +"It's no good talkin', Loudon," said Block, grinning after the fashion +of the cat which has just eaten the canary. "I know yuh. Yuh stole +that hoss yo're ridin' from the 88 ranch. There's the brand to prove +it. But that ain't all. Yuh was caught rustlin' 88 cows. Yuh branded +'em Crossed Dumbbell. An' yuh got away by shootin' Sam Blakely, an' +holdin' up Marvin an' Rudd. I don't guess yuh'll get away now in a +hurry." +</P> + +<P> +"Where's yore warrant?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't need no warrant." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," corroborated the brown-bearded man with the star. "Yuh +don't need no warrant for a hoss-thief an' a rustler. I tell yuh, +stranger, yo're lucky to be still alive. I'm doin' yuh a favour by +lettin' yuh go south with Sheriff Block. By rights yuh'd ought to be +lynched instanter." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh don't say," said Loudon, gently. "Who are yuh, anyway?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm only the marshal here at the Bend," replied with sarcasm the +brown-bearded man. "My name's Smith—Dan Smith. Yuh might 'a' heard +o' me." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, I've heard o' yuh, an' I'd understood yuh was a party with +sense an' not in the habit o' believin' everythin' yuh hear. Now——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh understood right," said the marshal, drily. "I'm listenin' to yuh +now, an' I don't believe everythin' I hear." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're believin' Block, an' he's the biggest liar in Fort Creek County, +an' that's sayin' quite it lot, seein' as how the 88 outfit belongs in +Fort Creek. Now I never branded no 88 cows. The 88, because they +knowed I knowed they'd been brandin' other folks' cattle, went an' +branded a cow an' a calf o' their own with the Crossed Dumbbell an' +then tried to throw the blame on me. But the trick didn't pan out. +They couldn't prove it nohow. Jack Richie o' the Cross-in-a-box can +tell yuh I didn't rustle them cattle." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought yuh was workin' for the Bar S," put in the marshal. +</P> + +<P> +"I was, but I quit." +</P> + +<P> +"Then why wouldn't Saltoun o' the Bar S know all about it? What did +yuh say Jack Richie for?" +</P> + +<P> +The marshal drooped a wise eyelid. He considered himself a most astute +cross-examiner. +</P> + +<P> +"I said Jack Richie because he was there at the Bar S when Marvin an' +Rudd drove in the cow an' the calf. It was him proved I couldn't 'a' +branded them cattle like they said I did." +</P> + +<P> +"Why wouldn't Saltoun o' the Bar S speak for yuh?" inquired the marshal. +</P> + +<P> +"He would, I guess," replied Loudon. "Old Salt an' me don't just +hitch, but he's square. He'd tell yuh about it." +</P> + +<P> +"He won't tell me. The Bar S an' the Cross-in-a-box are more'n two +hundred miles south. I ain't ridin' that far to get yore pedigree. +No, yuh can just bet I ain't. This gent here, Sheriff Block, will take +yuh south. If it's like yuh say it is, then yuh needn't worry none. +Yuh'll have yore witnesses an' all right there." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't yuh understand? I'll never see none o' my friends. The 88 +outfit will lynch me soon as ever I hit Farewell. I tell yuh I know +too much about 'em. They want me out o' the way." +</P> + +<P> +Before the marshal could reply there was a bustle in the crowd, and a +high-pitched feminine voice inquired what evil was being visited upon +Mr. Loudon. An instant later Mrs. Burr, barearmed and perspiring, +unceremoniously pushed Block to one side and confronted the marshal. +</P> + +<P> +"What yuh doin' to him?" she demanded, with a quick jerk of her head +toward Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Mis' Burr, ma'am," replied the marshal, "he's a hoss thief, an' +he's goin' south to Farewell." +</P> + +<P> +"He ain't goin' to Farewell," retorted Mrs. Burr, "an' he ain't a hoss +thief. Who says so?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do, ma'am," said Block, stepping forward. "He's a hoss thief, +an'——" +</P> + +<P> +"Hoss thief yoreself!" snapped Mrs. Burr, wheeling on Block so fiercely +that the sheriff gave ground involuntarily. "The more I look at yuh +the more yuh look like a hoss thief an' a rustler an' a road agent. +You shut up, Dan Smith! I always guessed yuh was an idjit, an' now I +know it! This man, Mr. Tom Loudon, is a friend o' my husband's. I +know him well, an' if yuh think yo're goin' to string him up for a hoss +thief yo're mistaken." +</P> + +<P> +"But, ma'am," explained the unhappy marshal, "we ain't a-goin' to +string him up. This gent, Sheriff Block, is takin' him south. He'll +get justice down there, Mis' Burr." +</P> + +<P> +"Will he? If the folks down there are as witless as you are he won't. +Justice! Yuh make me plumb weary! Did yuh ask to see this Block man's +warrant? Answer me! Did you?" +</P> + +<P> +"He ain't got no warrant," replied the marshal in a small voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't got no warrant!" screamed Mrs. Burr. "Ain't got no warrant, an' +yo're lettin' him take away a party on just his say-so! Dan Smith, +since when have yuh allowed a stranger to come in an' tell you what to +do? What right has this Block man from Fort Creek County to try an' +run Paradise Bend, I'd like to know?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't tryin' to run the Bend," defended Block. "I wouldn't think o' +such a thing. But I want this hoss thief, an' I mean to have him." +</P> + +<P> +The words had barely passed Block's teeth when Loudon's self-control +broke. With an inarticulate howl of rage he sprang at Block and drove +the iron manacles into the sheriff's face. +</P> + +<P> +Down went Block with Loudon on top of him. Twice, three times, before +Dan Smith and two others pulled him up and away, Loudon smashed the +handcuffs home. It was a bloody-faced, teeth-spitting sheriff that got +slowly to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"By ——!" gibbered Block. "By ——! I'll down you here an' now!" +</P> + +<P> +A tall man with square features tapped the raving sheriff on the +shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't cuss no more before a lady," advised the square-featured man. +"An' don't go draggin' at no gun. This ain't Fort Creek County. Yo're +in Paradise Bend, an' I just guess yuh won't beef any sport with his +hands tied. This goes as it lays." +</P> + +<P> +From the crowd came murmurs of approval. Public opinion was changing +front. Mrs. Burr smiled serenely. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're a real gent, Jim Mace," she said, addressing the square-featured +man. "I always knowed you'd protect a defenseless female. Dan Smith," +she continued, turning to the marshal, "unlock them handcuffs." +</P> + +<P> +Dan Smith hesitated. Then Block spoiled his own case. He seized +Loudon by the shoulders. Loudon promptly kicked him in the skins +[Transcriber's note: shins?] and endeavoured to repeat his former +assault with the handcuffs. But the two men holding him wrestled him +backward. +</P> + +<P> +"Do I get him?" bellowed Block, rabid with pain, for Loudon had kicked +him with all his strength. "Do I get him, or are yuh goin' to let a +woman tell yuh what to do?" +</P> + +<P> +Jim Mace stepped close to the sheriff. +</P> + +<P> +"Stranger," said Mace, sharply, "you've done chattered enough. In yore +own partic'lar hog-waller yuh may be a full-size toad, but up here +yo're half o' nothin'. Understand?" +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff looked about him wildly. The Paradise Benders, cold, +unfriendly, some openly hostile, stared back. Wrought up though he +was, the sheriff had wit enough to perceive that he was treading close +to the edge of a volcano. The sheriff subsided. +</P> + +<P> +"Dan," said Mace, "it's come to a show-down. It's the word o' Mis' +Burr agin' Block's. There's only one answer. If I was you I'd unlock +them handcuffs." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're right, Jim," agreed the marshal. "I will." +</P> + +<P> +"Gimme my gun," demanded Loudon, when his hands were free. +</P> + +<P> +"In a minute," parried the marshal. "Sheriff, if I was you I'd hit the +trail. Yore popularity ain't more'n deuce-high just now." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go," glowered Block. "But I'll be back. An' when I come I'll +have a warrant. I reckon the Sheriff o' Sunset will honour it, even if +you won't." +</P> + +<P> +"Bring on yore warrant," retorted the marshal. +</P> + +<P> +The rumble of wheels and thud of hoofs attracted Loudon's attention. +Over the heads of the crowd he saw the high sides of a +tarpaulin-covered wagon and, sitting on the driver's seat, Captain +Benjamin Burr and Scotty Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"Hi, Cap'n Burr. Hi, Scotty!" shouted Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are they?" exclaimed Mrs. Burr, her harsh features lighting up. +"Oh, there they are! You Benjamin Burr, come right in here this +instant. Yore wife wants yore help!" +</P> + +<P> +Captain Burr swayed back on the reins. Dragging a sawed-off shotgun he +hopped to the ground, Scotty Mackenzie at his heels. The crowd made +way for them. Captain Burr swept his hat off and bowed ceremoniously +to his wife. +</P> + +<P> +"My love," said he, "in what way may I assist you?" +</P> + +<P> +"That party," sniffed Mrs. Burr, levelling a long forefinger at the +wretched Block, "comes up an' accuses Mr. Tom Loudon here o' bein' a +rustler an' a hoss thief. Says he's been brandin' 88 cows an' that he +stole that chestnut hoss yonder." +</P> + +<P> +The sawed-off shotgun, an eight-gauge Greener, covered Block's belt +buckle. +</P> + +<P> +"Suh, you lie," said Burr, simply. +</P> + +<P> +"What did I tell all you folks?" cried Mrs. Burr, triumphantly. +</P> + +<P> +Block made no attempt to draw. He folded his arms and glared +ferociously. He found glaring difficult, for he knew that he did not +look in the least ferocious. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm doin' my duty," he said, sullenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen all, I'd like some show in this," pleaded Loudon. "Just +gimme back my gun, an' me an' Block'll shoot it out." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a shake," said Scotty, sliding between Loudon and Block. "Let me +get the straight of this. You accuse Loudon here of brandin' 88 +cattle?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," insisted the stubborn Block, "an' he stole that chestnut hoss +he's ridin', too. Just look at the 88 brand. It's plain as day." +</P> + +<P> +"Suh," burst out Burr, "I happened to be at the 88 ranch the day my +friend Tom Loudon bought that chestnut hoss. I saw him pay Blakely. +Everybody in Fo't Creek County knows that Tom Loudon has owned that +hoss fo' upwa'ds of a yeah. You know it, you rascal! Don't attempt to +deny it!" +</P> + +<P> +To this sweeping assertion Block made no reply. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess now that settles half the cat-hop," said Scotty. "The other +half I know somethin' about myself. Jack Richie o' the Cross-in-a-box +told me. It was thisaway——" +</P> + +<P> +And Scotty related the tale of Marvin and Rudd and the Crossed Dumbbell +cow and calf. +</P> + +<P> +"Now what yuh got to say?" Scotty demanded of Block when the story was +told. +</P> + +<P> +"What can I do?" snapped Block. "It's a whole town agin' one man. +I'll get a warrant, an' yuh can gamble on that. If I thought I'd get a +square deal, I'd admire to shoot it out." +</P> + +<P> +"Gimme my gun," begged Loudon. "Gimme it, or lend me one, somebody. +He wants to shoot it out." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Scotty, firmly, "it's gone beyond shootin'. Block knowed +you was innocent. He couldn't help knowin' it. He tried to work such +a sneakin', low-down trick that killin' don't seem to fit somehow. +He'd ought to be rode on a rail or buried up to his neck or somethin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Tar an' feather him," suggested Mrs. Burr. +</P> + +<P> +"We ain't got no tar," said Jim Mace, "an' there ain't a chicken in the +place." +</P> + +<P> +"There's molasses an' goose-hair quilts in the Chicago Store," said +Mrs. Burr, helpfully. "What more do yuh want?" +</P> + +<P> +Molasses and feathers! Here was an extravagant jape! Block's hand +swept downward. But no smooth revolver-butt met his clutching fingers. +A far-seeing soul had, in the confusion, adroitly removed the sheriff's +six-shooter. +</P> + +<P> +In all seriousness the men of Paradise Bend set about their work. They +saw no humour in the shriekingly grotesque business. Sheriff Block +essayed to struggle. But Scotty and other leading citizens attached +themselves to his arms and legs and pulled him down and sat upon him. +</P> + +<P> +When one came running with a five-gallon jug of molasses Block, +uttering strange cries, was spread-eagled. From his forehead to his +feet the molasses was thickly applied. When the front of him had been +thoroughly daubed, he was rolled over upon a ripped-up quilt—this so +that none of the molasses might be wasted—and a fresh jug was brought +into play. +</P> + +<P> +Dripping like a buckwheat cake, writhing in an agony of shame, Block +was rolled up in the quilt. Then the quilt was torn away and men +showered upon him the contents of other quilts. The Paradise Benders +used up ten gallons of molasses and three quilts on Block, and they +made a complete job. Awful was the wreck that staggered down the +street. +</P> + +<P> +Somehow the sheriff contrived to reach the stable where he had left his +horse, and somehow—for his movements were the movements of one far +gone in drink—he threw on the saddle and passed the cinch-straps. +Mounting with difficulty, he rode away. None offered to molest him +further. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE HORSE THIEF +</H4> + +<P> +Loudon, who had taken no part in the feathering, watched the departure +of the sheriff with brooding eyes. He did not agree with Scotty +Mackenzie and the citizens of the Bend. In his estimation the +punishment had not been sufficiently drastic. Alive and in possession +of all his faculties the sheriff was a great power for evil. He would +seek revenge. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon swore softly. He was far from being a bloodthirsty man, but he +regarded the killing of Block as a duty. And he did not believe in +putting off till some future date what could be accomplished to-day. +</P> + +<P> +"It's quite a list," he said to himself. "Block, Rufe Cutting, +Blakely, an' the whole 88 outfit. An' they won't be happy till they +get me. It kind o' looks as if Blakely ain't expectin' to keep our +little engagement in Farewell. Block wouldn't 'a' come up here without +Blakely sent him." +</P> + +<P> +Thoughts of Blakely quite naturally induced thoughts of Pete O'Leary. +Where was O'Leary? Loudon recollected that he had not seen O'Leary in +the crowd. He looked up and down the street. O'Leary was nowhere in +sight. His absence was a small thing in itself, but it might signify a +guilty conscience. Loudon wondered. +</P> + +<P> +That disreputable person, Scotty Mackenzie, approached, leading his +horse. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom," said Scotty, his blue eyes twinkling, "don't look so +downhearted. He wasn't worth shootin'." +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno, Scotty," replied Loudon. "It'll come to it some day, or I +miss my guess." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh'll miss it while yo're workin' for me. Block won't never come to +the Bend again, an' yuh can go the limit on that. D'juh get the mail?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't been to the post office. Didn't have time. I've been right +busy ever since I sifted in." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll get it then. Cap'n Burr wants yuh to eat dinner at his house. +I'll drift round later. Better finish up what yuh come to town for +before yuh eat." +</P> + +<P> +"I come to town to meet you." +</P> + +<P> +"To meet me!" exclaimed Scotty. "Now look here, Tom, do I look like I +need a gardeen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't yuh write to Doubleday," said the bewildered Loudon, "tellin' +him to send me in to meet yuh here to-day an' for me to ride my own +hoss?" +</P> + +<P> +"What are yuh talkin' about? Me write Doubleday! I should say not!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, all I know is Doubleday got a letter from yuh, an' it was mailed +in Rocket." +</P> + +<P> +"Mailed in Rocket! Why, I never was in Rocket! It's just luck me +bein' here to-day. If I hadn't met Ben Burr down at the Wagonwheel I +wouldn't 'a' come for another couple o' days, mebbe." +</P> + +<P> +"It's damn funny. That letter from Rocket is no dream." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope Doubleday saves the letter. Well, you go on an' eat. See yuh +later." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon swung into the saddle and galloped to the house of Captain Burr. +On the doorsill Dorothy Burr and Pete O'Leary sat side by side. As +Loudon dismounted Miss Bunrose to meet him. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mr. Loudon!" she exclaimed, "I've just heard about your frightful +experience. I wish I'd been there. I'd have enjoyed seeing them +plaster up that brute of a sheriff." +</P> + +<P> +"He did look kind o' odd," said Loudon. "Yore ma shore saved my life." +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't it luck Ma was down street? I usually go myself, but this +morning Mr. O'Leary came, so Ma went. We didn't know there was +anything going on till Ma came back and told us, and then it was all +over. My! I'd like to have seen Ma talking to that stupid Dan Smith. +The big idiot! Ma's mad yet. Oh, I forgot. Have you met Mr. O'Leary?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know him," said Loudon rather ungraciously, and nodded to the +gentleman in question. "I guess I'll put the little hoss in the +corral." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, do. Pa's out there. Dinner'll be ready soon." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Burr returned to the doorsill, and Loudon led away Ranger. So +Pete O'Leary had been spending the morning at the Burrs'! It would be +interesting to know why the engaging O'Leary had chosen to call upon +that particular morning. Was it because he did not wish to identify +himself in any way with Sheriff Block? Was it the guilty conscience? +</P> + +<P> +"Well, suh," smiled Captain Burr, who was kneeling at the feet of one +of his horses, "well, suh, it went against the grain to let that +scoundrel go in peace, didn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon smiled grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"I appreciate youah feelings in the matteh, Tom," continued the +Captain. "Such a puhson should not be allowed to live. My impulse was +to shoot him, but I stayed my hand. As I may have mentioned befo', I +am growing soft-heahted. That's right, Tom, cuss away. If Block were +otheh than he is, he would shoot himself. No gentleman would care to +live afteh being tah'd and feath'ed. But Block will writhe onwa'd like +the snake he is till he is crushed once fo' all. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you remembeh what I said the day you made him quit right in the +street in Fa'ewell? Well, suh, in o'deh to regain the respect of the +town he did kill a man—an inoffensive strangeh." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh might know it. He'll be a reg'lar 'Billy the Kid' before a great +while." +</P> + +<P> +"Not quite. The Lincoln County young man was a wa'-eagle. Block's a +buzza'd. Tom, I'm afraid this Jeffe'son Davis hoss is developing a +wind-puff." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon made no reply. He was watching an approaching rider. The +horseman passed by without a glance toward the corral and loped on into +town. +</P> + +<P> +Now the road in front of the Burr house was the beginning of the trail +to the Flying M ranch, and the mounted man was none other than Rufe +Cutting. It was evident to Loudon that he had not underestimated the +cook. He resolved to seek out his would-be bushwhacker immediately. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon looked quickly down at the Captain. If Burr had perceived +Loudon's absorption he gave no sign. He merely requested Loudon's +opinion of the slight swelling on Jefferson Davis's near fore. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh've got to excuse me, Cap'n," said Loudon, hastily. "I've got a +little business to attend to before I eat." +</P> + +<P> +"Need any help?" inquired Burr, reaching for his Greener. +</P> + +<P> +"No, thanks," replied Loudon, swiftly resaddling Ranger. +</P> + +<P> +"Dinner!" called Mrs. Burr, sticking her head out of the kitchen door a +moment later. "Why, where's Tom Loudon?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's gone away," grumbled her husband, regretfully eying his shotgun. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of all things! Just as dinner's ready! Don't he know he's +eatin' here? Will he be gone long?" +</P> + +<P> +"He may not be away twenty minutes, and then, on the otheh hand, he may +neveh retuhn." +</P> + +<P> +"Never return! What are you talkin' about, Benjamin Burr?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wait and see, my love, wait and see," rejoined the Captain, and went +in to dinner. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Loudon, meanwhile, had galloped down to the corner of Main Street. +Rufe Cutting was not in sight. But his horse was standing among the +horses in front of the Jacks Up Saloon. Loudon rode across the street +and dismounted behind a freighter's wagon near the Chicago Store, where +he could not be observed from the windows of the Jacks Up. Then he +walked briskly up the street and entered the saloon. +</P> + +<P> +Rufe Cutting, his scratched features cast in sullen lines, was drinking +at the bar. So were several other men. A knot of citizens in +Cutting's immediate rear were discussing the events of the morning. +Two faro tables were crowded. The Jacks Up was in full blast. With +the place crowded a gun-play was apt to result in damage to the +bystanders. +</P> + +<P> +However, the choice lay with Cutting. Loudon would allow the first +move. +</P> + +<P> +With this intention, Loudon edged up to the bar and called for a drink. +At the sound of his voice Cutting turned a slow head. There were two +men in between, but they were not standing close to the bar. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, watching Cutting out of his eye-corners, picked up his glass +with his left hand. Even as he did so, panic seized Cutting. His +fingers closed on his own full glass and he hurled it at Loudon's head. +</P> + +<P> +Involuntarily Loudon dodged. When he recovered himself his gun was out. +</P> + +<P> +The bartender promptly vanished under the bar. Men skipped and dodged +and flung themselves over tables and chairs in their anxiety to give +Loudon a clear line of fire. But Cutting had disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +Two swearing men sprawling under an open rear window told the story. +In his fear-stricken efforts to escape Cutting had knocked them both +down. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon and the two men, one of whom was Jim Mace and the other Dan +Smith, went through the window almost simultaneously. Both sashes went +with them to a brave accompaniment of crackling glass. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon landed on his knees, and was in time for a snapshot at a leg +sliding over a windowsill of the house next door. Before Loudon could +rise Mace and the marshal tumbled over him. The three fell in a tangle +and rolled among tin cans and bottles for a space of time. When at +last, red-faced and almost breathless, they rushed the house next door +they were stopped by an angry woman brandishing a frying-pan. +</P> + +<P> +"You drunk hunkers can't come through here!" screamed the irate lady. +"If you an' yore fool friends want to play tag yuh can play her in the +street! What do yuh mean by bustin' into folks' houses an' wakin' my +baby up? You idjits! She'll be bawlin' her brains out all day now!" +</P> + +<P> +"We're after a hold-up!" cried Loudon with great presence of mind. +</P> + +<P> +It had the desired effect. +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't yuh say so at first? Come right in." +</P> + +<P> +Through the house and out of the front door they dashed. Drifting +clouds of dust marked Cutting's line of flight. He was a quarter of a +mile distant, spurring for the ford of the Dogsoldier and the Farewell +trail. The marshal fired a futile shot. Loudon laughed and holstered +his six-shooter. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at him go!" he chuckled. "Scared stiff." +</P> + +<P> +"Get yore hosses!" commanded the marshal. "Don't stand here gassin'! +We'll go after him right away!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, let him go," drawled Loudon. "He ain't worth chasin'." +</P> + +<P> +"But he's a road agent, ain't he?" said Jim Mace. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I just said he was," grinned Loudon. "He ain't nothin' but a +right good cook, so far as I know." +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't he done nothin'?" inquired the perplexed marshal. +</P> + +<P> +"Only jerked a glass of whisky at me," replied Loudon. "Yuh see, I +ain't right popular with him." +</P> + +<P> +"From the way he's splittin' the breeze," said Jim Mace, "it looks like +he don't care for yore society none." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd ought to go after him," grunted the marshal, vengefully, tenderly +feeling a skinned elbow. "I don't mind a reg'lar gun-play, but this +here chuckin' glasses round promiscuous an' bumpin' folks over ain't +right. It's agin' law an' order. He'd ought to be arrested. The +calaboose has been empty for a week, too." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon left Jim Mace and Dan Smith explaining matters to the gathering +crowd, and walked back to where he had left his horse. Ranger was not +behind the freighter's wagon. Loudon ran into the Chicago Store. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," said the proprietor. "I seen a feller climbin' aboard that +hoss a few minutes ago. Seemed in a hurry, too. What? Yore hoss!" +</P> + +<P> +The proprietor ducked under the counter for his spurs and his rifle, +and Loudon hurried out. Cutting's mount, the bay he had bought from +Doubleday, was of course standing where he had been left among the +other horses. Loudon threw the dropped reins over the bay's head and +swung up. +</P> + +<P> +"He's a hoss thief!" he shouted to Dan Smith and Jim Mace. "He got +away on my hoss!" +</P> + +<P> +Quirting and spurring, Loudon tore down the street. Before the horse's +hoofs spattered the water of the ford the proprietor of the Chicago +Store and the marshal were galloping in his wake. Jim Mace and a score +of others followed at intervals. A horse was not stolen in Paradise +Bend every day. The inhabitants were bent on making the most of their +opportunity. +</P> + +<P> +The bay was a good horse, but Ranger was the better, and Loudon knew +it—knew, too that, unless Ranger fell down, Cutting would escape. +</P> + +<P> +"Ranger's good for all day," groaned Loudon. "All day an' not strain +himself a little bit." +</P> + +<P> +As the bay flashed across the top of a rise two miles beyond the +Dogsoldier, Loudon glimpsed two specks four miles ahead. +</P> + +<P> +"Block! He's with Block!" exclaimed Loudon, and drove in the spurs. +</P> + +<P> +The bay leaped madly forward and rocketed down the long slope. A +high-lipped swell concealed the two specks, and for a long ten minutes +Loudon rode between the sides of the draw. The bay charged at the +high-lipped swell with undiminished vigour. He was doing his level +best, but his gait was tied in. It bore not the remotest resemblance +to Ranger's free-swinging stride. When Loudon reached the crest of the +swell the specks had vanished. +</P> + +<P> +He put the reins between his teeth and drew the Winchester from the +scabbard under his left leg. He threw down the lever a trifle. There +was a cartridge in the chamber. +</P> + +<P> +The loading gate resisted the pressure of his thumb. There was at +least one cartridge in the magazine, but by the weight of the rifle he +judged it to be fully loaded. Loudon returned the Winchester to its +scabbard and slowed the willing little bay to a lope. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're all right, old hoss," he said, "but yuh can't never catch that +hoss o' mine. Not in a million years. We just got to wait till he +stops." +</P> + +<P> +Rufe Cutting could have devised no better revenge than the stealing of +Loudon's horse. Since Loudon had owned Ranger no one save himself and +Kate Saltoun had ridden him. Ranger's legs were frequently +hand-rubbed. Ranger was curried. With his fingers—no true horseman +would dream of using the comb of commerce—Loudon frequently combed +Ranger's mane and tail. When a horse in the cow country is curried and +combed, that horse is a highly valued horse. Johnny Ramsay accused +Loudon of wrapping Ranger in blankets when the air was chilly, and of +taking his temperature on all occasions. Undoubtedly Loudon was +somewhat of a crank where Ranger was concerned. +</P> + +<P> +And now the inconceivable had come to pass. Ranger had been +stolen—stolen almost under the very nose of his master. Loudon did +not swear. His feeling was too deeply grim for that. But he promised +himself an accounting—a very full accounting. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon rode onward at a steady lope. Before him stretched the dusty +ribbon of trail. Blank and bare it led between the low hills and +lifted over the ridges. He saw no more specks ahead. The quarry had +outdistanced him. +</P> + +<P> +Fifteen miles out of Paradise Bend he heard a faint shout in his rear. +He looked over his shoulder. A half mile distant two men were +galloping toward him. One of them waved an arm half red, half blue. +</P> + +<P> +"Scotty," muttered Loudon, and checked his horse. +</P> + +<P> +The two clattered up, their horses' out-blown nostrils whistling. One +of the men was the owner of the Flying M. The other was the proprietor +of the Chicago Store. +</P> + +<P> +"Seen him?" demanded Scotty. +</P> + +<P> +"Once," replied Loudon. "He's ridin' with Block now, but they pulled +away from me. I ain't seen 'em for over a hour." +</P> + +<P> +"They're stickin' to the trail," grunted the store proprietor, who +rejoiced in the name of Ragsdale, glancing at the hoof-marks in the +dust. +</P> + +<P> +"C'mon!" snapped Scotty Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +Three miles farther on Ragsdale's mount began to falter. +</P> + +<P> +"He's done," growled Ragsdale. "Give 'em one for me." +</P> + +<P> +Ragsdale halted. Loudon and Scotty Mackenzie rode on. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did yuh get that bay?" queried Scotty, eying the Flying M brand +on the bay's hip. +</P> + +<P> +"It was his—Cutting's," replied Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Cutting's? Djuh mean Rufe Cutting is the hoss thief?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore! I clean forgot yuh didn't know about Cutting's quittin' his +job." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon explained the manner of the cook's departure and his subsequent +actions to Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"An'," said Loudon, in conclusion, "I seen that feller at the 88 that +time I bought my hoss from Blakely." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh did! Are yuh shore?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore as yo're a day old. I was walkin' past the bunkhouse with +Blakely, an' this fellah was out in front with his shirt off a-washin' +himself, an' I seen a eagle tattooed on his chest in blue, an' +underneath a heart with a R on one side an' a T on the other. Just +before yore cook pulled his freight his shirt got tore, an' I seen his +chest, an' there was the eagle an' the heart an' the two letters R an +T. I knowed when I first laid eyes on him up here at the Flyin' M that +I'd seen him some'ers, but I couldn't place him till I seen the +tattoo-work. It all come back to me then." +</P> + +<P> +"What was his name at the 88?" +</P> + +<P> +"I never knowed. I never cut his trail again down there. He wasn't +one o' the reg'lar outfit. I know all o' them." +</P> + +<P> +"Did Cap'n Burr see him?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, he didn't. I remember now, when the Cap'n come this fellah wasn't +in sight, an' he didn't show up again while we was there. Cap'n Burr +left when I did." +</P> + +<P> +"Cutting worked for me nigh onto a year. He's always earned his pay. +Never done nothin' out of the way." +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno what it means. It's all a heap mysterious—special mysterious +when yuh come to think o' what O'Leary asked me when I first hit the +Bend. 'Couldn't Sam come?' says O'Leary to me. Busts out into the +street to say it, too, right after I'd asked yuh the way to Cap'n +Burr's house." +</P> + +<P> +"I remember," said Scotty, thoughtfully. "I seen him talkin' to yuh. +I thought yuh knowed him. I wonder who he took yuh for?" +</P> + +<P> +"One o' Blakely's outfit, o' course," replied Loudon. "It was that 88 +brand o' Ranger's done the trick for him like it done for you. +'Couldn't Sam come?' says he. Then he says, 'It's all right. I'm Pete +O'Leary!' When he seen I didn't understand him none, he got gun-shy +immediate an' wandered. An' he didn't forget me a little bit. +Telescope told me that he'd been tryin' to find out if you'd hired me. +One day he come out to the ranch an' stopped just long enough to say +howdy. Wanted to make shore I was there, see? What do yuh make of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothin'—yet. We got to wait an' see what happens." +</P> + +<P> +"Seein' what happens may be expensive. I tell yuh flat, Scotty, Sam +Blakely has got somethin' under the table for yuh. He's aimin' to put +a crimp in yuh. Yuh can go the limit on that." +</P> + +<P> +"There ain't nothin' certain about it." +</P> + +<P> +"O' course there ain't. Sam ain't goin' to give himself away. I wish +you'd let me Injun 'round some an' see what's up. I think, maybe, +yuh'll save money if yuh do." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I dunno——" hesitated Scotty. +</P> + +<P> +"O' course," said Loudon, quickly, "Blakely's got it in for me. But +whatever he's cookin' up for you he thought of before I ever rode +north. My comin' north has sort of upset his plans. He knows I know +all about him, an' he wants to shut my mouth before he turns his bull +loose." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're goin' to meet him in Farewell, ain't yuh? Seems to me Richie +said somethin' about it." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore I am, but what's that got to do with it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, maybe that's the reason he wants yuh out of the way. He may not +hanker after shootin' it out with yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"No, Sam Blakely ain't afraid," denied Loudon. "He wouldn't object any +to meetin' me in Farewell if that was all there was to it. No, what's +worryin' him is me bein' here at the Flying M. An' it's worryin' him a +lot, or he'd never 'a' sent Block two hundred miles." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I dunno. Yuh may be right, Tom, but I don't just guess Sam +Blakely will try to put any crimps in me. He knows it would come kind +o' high. Of course it's mighty puzzlin'. I don't understand it none. +One thing, Blakely shore tried his best to get yuh down on the Lazy +River, an' that's why it looks to me like Block was sent to put in the +last licks." +</P> + +<P> +"He was, but not the way yuh think. I could gas my head off about +Blakely up here in the Bend, an' it wouldn't matter a —— so long as +he was down on the Lazy. But if he left the Lazy an' come projeckin' +up to the Bend, then what I'd be sayin' would count a lot. See now?" +</P> + +<P> +"I see," admitted Scotty. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, gimme a chance to find out what he's up to." +</P> + +<P> +"No, Tom, there's too much to do at the ranch. I can't let yuh go. +Yo're too good a man. I need yuh right at home. We'll wait an' see +what happens. Then we'll know what to do." +</P> + +<P> +"It may be too late then," grumbled Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"If it is, then blame me. I'm the one to lose, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh shore are." +</P> + +<P> +Oh, the denseness of ranch owners! Was Scotty Mackenzie to turn out +another Saltoun? +</P> + +<P> +"It's a blind trail," observed Scotty, picking up the tangled thread of +their discourse. "Some things kind o' fit when yuh look at 'em one +way, an' then again they don't when yuh look at 'em another. Cutting +don't fit, none whatever. All the time he worked for me, he only went +to town twice, an' the last time was six months ago. O'Leary never +come to see him, so if somethin's up like yuh say there is, Rufe's out +of it. But that won't help him none now. He'll go out if we ever come +up with him." +</P> + +<P> +"If we do," supplemented Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"My idea exactly. That hoss o' yores can shore wriggle along, an' he +had a big start." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm goin' through to Rocket anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"Me, too." +</P> + +<P> +Till the latter half of the afternoon they kept the ponies loping. +Then, slowing to a walk, they risked a short-cut and did not strike the +trail again till the sun was setting. +</P> + +<P> +"Still keepin' together," announced Loudon, after one look at the trail. +</P> + +<P> +"An' still hittin' the high places," said Scotty. "Them two cayuses +shore have bottom. Cutting knowed a good hoss all right." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ROCKET +</H4> + +<P> +The two men reached Rocket before midnight and rode up to the door of +the combination saloon and hotel. While Scotty hammered on the planks +with his fist, Loudon uttered stentorian yells. Rocket, male and +female, awoke, poked their heads out of the windows and shrilly +demanded information. +</P> + +<P> +"Hoss thief!" bawled Loudon. "He's ridin' a long-legged chestnut with +a white spot on his nose! Fellah with him on a black horse! The sport +on the black may or may not be dressed like a bird, accordin' to +whether he's washed himself! Have yuh seen 'em?" +</P> + +<P> +Rocket with one voice assured Loudon that he was drunk, and advised the +watering-trough. +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't foolin'," expostulated Loudon. "The gent on the black cayuse, +which his name is Block, Sheriff o' Fort Creek County, was tarred an' +feathered in Paradise Bend this afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +Partisan Rocket cheered, and, in the same breath, grieved that neither +of the fugitives had been seen and clamoured to know details of the +tarring and feathering. Rocket was in Sunset County, and it was +delightful to hear that Fort Creek, in the person of its sheriff, had +been insulted. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, sitting at ease on his weary, drooping-headed pony, told the +tale. He carefully refrained, however, from mentioning his own leading +part in the affair. Rocket received the story with howls of mirth. +Later, the male portion stuffed its nightshirts into trousers, pulled +on boots, and gathered three deep around Loudon and Scotty while the +two devoured cold beef and beans in the dining room of the hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"Glad to see yo're feelin' better over yore hoss," observed Scotty, +when the last Rocketer had departed. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I made 'em laugh," said Loudon, dismally. "But it didn't make me +feel like laughin' myself a little bit. I feel just as bad as +ever—worse if anythin'. Why, Scotty, that hoss could do everythin' +but talk." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," said Scotty, hastily, "but we can't do nothin' now. We've +done all we could. They didn't come through Rocket, that's certain. +They've done turned off some'ers. We can't trail 'em to-night, an' by +to-morrow they'll be forty mile off. There's no use in keepin' it up." +</P> + +<P> +Scotty looked anxiously at Loudon. The latter made no reply. He was +staring at the lamp on the table, his expression bitter in the extreme. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell yuh what," hazarded Scotty. "Yuh can have that bay yo're ridin'. +He ain't like yore reg'lar hoss, but he's a good pony. Look at the way +he went to-day. Got bottom, that hoss has. Go till the Gulf o' Mexico +freezes solid." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right good o' yuh, Scotty, but I couldn't take him off yuh +thataway. I might buy him some day." +</P> + +<P> +"The offer goes as it lays. Yuh don't have to buy him. He's yores +whenever yuh want him. Well, what are yuh figurin' on doin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's no use chasin' 'em any more now. I know that. Might as well +wander back where we come from. Later, two or three weeks maybe, I'm +goin' south." +</P> + +<P> +"Goin' south!" Scotty was aghast. He did not wish to lose his best +man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yep. Goin' south. Don't expect to find Cutting first off. But I'll +find Block, an' I guess he'll know somethin' about friend Cutting. I'd +go instanter, only I want to give Block time to get back an' get +settled before I pay him a call. I tell yuh, Scotty, I want that hoss +o' mine, an' I'll get him back if it takes me the rest o' my life!" +</P> + +<P> +"You gents want beds?" inquired the landlord, suddenly appearing in the +doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," replied Scotty. "Two of 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, who's the postmaster here?" Loudon asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Me," was the landlord's weary reply. +</P> + +<P> +"A couple o' days ago," said Loudon, "a letter addressed to John +Doubleday in Paradise Bend was mailed here. Remember who mailed it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't say, stranger," yawned the landlord. "Oh, shore," he added, +as Loudon looked incredulous, "I could tell yuh everybody else what +mailed mail for the last month. But that one letter I couldn't. I +didn't see the man, woman, child, or Injun what mailed it. Three days +ago when I got up in the mornin' an' went outside to wash my face I +done found that letter an' two bits a-layin' on the door-step. That's +all. Just a letter an' two bits. I clamps on a stamp an' sends her +along when the up-stage pulls in." +</P> + +<P> +"Any parties from the Bend in town that day, or the day before?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a party as I knows of—but then I ain't got eyes all over me. +Some sport might 'a' slid through an' me not know it." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't askin' questions just to make talk," said Loudon, sharply. +"So if yuh ain't got no real serious objections I'll ask a couple more." +</P> + +<P> +"No need to get het, stranger," soothed the landlord. "No need to get +het. Ask away." +</P> + +<P> +"Any strangers been in town lately?" +</P> + +<P> +"Two, to-day. They're the only strangers I've seen for quite a spell, +an' they're upstairs now. Lady an' gent they are, travellin' separate. +Goin' to the Bend, I reckon. Yest'day the off hind wheel o' the stage +dished down at Lew's Gully, an' she come in on three wheels an' half a +cottonwood. Passengers had to stay over till Whisky Jim rustled him a +new wheel. Whisky'll pull out in the mornin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Who's the gent?" +</P> + +<P> +"Drummer. Dunno his name." +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't Block—you know, Sheriff Block o' Fort Creek—didn't he stop +here a day or two ago? He must 'a' come through Rocket." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore he did. But he ain't no stranger. I see him as many as two or +three times a year. Shore he come through Rocket. He had a drink here +day before yest'day. Goin' to the Bend, he said." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if he stops on his way back tell him Tom Loudon was askin' for +him. Old friend o' mine, the sheriff is. Just tell him yuh know me, +an' he'll set 'em up for the whole town." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect," grinned the landlord. "Was you wantin' beds, gents?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's us," grunted Scotty. "Me, I'm asleep from the neck down. Show +me that bed, Mister." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, sitting on the edge of his sway-backed cot, pulled off his +boots, dropped them clattering on the floor, and looked across at +Scotty Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +"Block didn't send that letter—or write it," he said, sliding his long +body under the blanket. +</P> + +<P> +"How do yuh know?" came in muffled tones from Scotty. +</P> + +<P> +"He ain't got the brains. No sir, some gent in Paradise Bend sent that +letter, an' I think I know his name." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is he?" Scotty was plainly striving to keep awake, and making a +poor job of it. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell yuh after we get back to the Bend." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Next morning, while the east was yet lemon and gray, the thunderous +clamour of a beaten dish-pan reverberated through the hotel. The +hideous din ceased abruptly, and the voice of the landlord became +audible. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh half-witted idjit! Don't yuh know better'n to beat that pan when +there's a lady in the house? Dish-pans is for common folks, an' don't +yuh forget it! Now you hump yoreself upstairs an' bang on her door +right gentle an' tell her the stage is due to pull out in a hour." +</P> + +<P> +"Must be a real lady," commented Loudon, when a door at the other end +of the corridor had been duly rapped upon. +</P> + +<P> +"Must be," said Scotty in a singularly joyless tone. "Yuh couldn't +hear what she said to the feller. Reg'lar female ladies always talk so +yuh got to ask 'em to say it again, they carry fancy-coloured umbrellas +when the sun shines, an' they pack their gold specs on the end of a +stick. They watch yuh eat, too. I know 'em. Yuh bet I do. +</P> + +<P> +"I met a pair of 'em once when they was visitin' at the Seven Lazy +Seven. They made me so nervous a-lookin' at me that I cut the roof o' +my mouth three times with my knife. Reg'lar ladies don't make me feel +to home nohow. I'm goin' down now an' eat before this one scampers in +an' spoils my appetite." +</P> + +<P> +So saying, Scotty almost ran from the room, buckling on his +cartridge-belt as he went. +</P> + +<P> +The drummer was at the table when the two Flying M men sat down. An +impressive person was the drummer. He was known in his own circle as a +"perfectly elegant dresser." If the tightest of tight-fitting suits, +the gaudiest of shirts, the highest of collars, an explosive cravat, +two watch-chains, a bartender's curl, and a perpetual leer made for +elegance, that drummer was elegant to a degree. +</P> + +<P> +The three had nearly finished breakfast when there came a tapping of +quick heels on the stairs. Scotty Mackenzie groaned. The drummer +hastily patted his curl and broadened his leer. Loudon raised his eyes +and gasped audibly. His knife and fork rattled on the plate. For the +woman entering the room was Kate Saltoun. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, Tom," said Kate, brightly, quite as if she and he, the +best of friends, had parted the previous evening. +</P> + +<P> +The nonplussed Loudon mumbled unintelligibly, but accomplished a +passable greeting by the time Kate had seated herself directly +opposite. The drummer glanced contemptuously at Loudon, and, with a +flourish and a killing ogle, handed the bread to Kate. Miss Saltoun +helped herself, nodded casual thanks, and bestowed a ravishing smile on +Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm awfully glad to see you again, Tom," she declared, buttering her +bread. "It's just like old times, isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +Could this smiling young girl be Kate Saltoun? Was this the Kate that +had called him names and broken his heart and driven him from the Lazy +River? Loudon furtively pinched himself. The pinch hurt. +</P> + +<P> +It was not all a dream then. Kate Saltoun, in the flesh, and separated +from him by not more than four feet of scaly oilcloth, was actually +smiling at him. Words failed Loudon. He could do nothing but gaze. +</P> + +<P> +Scotty, fearful of an introduction, oozed from the table. The drummer, +unused to being ignored, fidgeted. He cleared his throat raucously. +He would show this dumb person in chaps how a gentleman comports +himself in the presence of a lady. It was the drummer's first trip +West. +</P> + +<P> +"Beautiful day, Miss, beautiful," he smirked, tilting back in his +chair, and rattling his watch-chains. "We should have a quick trip to +Paradise Bend. Our driver, I understand, has procured another wheel, +and——" +</P> + +<P> +The full-voiced utterance died abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +For Kate had looked imploringly at Loudon, and Loudon had swung about +to face the drummer. For the first time in his life the drummer +realized how cold, how utterly daunting, a pair of human eyes could be. +</P> + +<P> +"You through?" demanded Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +The drummer endured that disconcerting stare while a man might draw +three breaths. Then his eyelids quivered, dropped, and a curious +mottled pallor overspread his countenance. He glanced up, met again +that disconcerting stare, and quickly looked elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +"You through?" repeated Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I don't know as that's any of your business," said the drummer, +faintly. +</P> + +<P> +"Git out," ordered Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, look here! By what right——" +</P> + +<P> +"Git out." Loudon had not raised his voice. +</P> + +<P> +The drummer glanced at Miss Saltoun. She was crumbling her bread and +looking over his head with an air of intense boredom. So far as she +was concerned, he had ceased to exist. And she had been so friendly +and companionable on the long ride from Farewell. +</P> + +<P> +"You've done kept me waitin' some time," suggested Loudon, softly. +</P> + +<P> +Awkwardly, for he found his knees strangely weak, the drummer rose. +With a lame attempt at jauntiness he pulled down his vest, shot his +cuffs, and teetered from the room. He made his way to the bar and +called for whisky. His nerves were rather upset. +</P> + +<P> +"Jake's put yore stuff in the stage," announced the landlord, who was +also the bartender. +</P> + +<P> +"Then Jake can take my bags out again," said the drummer, disagreeably. +"I'm staying over till to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, hotel-keepers can't afford to be particular," the landlord said, +unsmilingly. "But yuh'll have to unload yore truck yore own self." +</P> + +<P> +The drummer would have enjoyed cursing the landlord. But the latter +had the same peculiar look about the eyes that Loudon had. The drummer +went out into the street, thinking evil thoughts of these unamiable +Westerners. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Kate, when the drummer left the room, smiled sweetly upon Loudon. It +was his reward for ridding her of a pest. She did not know that +Loudon's prime reason for squelching the drummer was practically the +same reason that impels the average man, on receiving an unpleasant +surprise, to throw things at the cat. +</P> + +<P> +"How's Johnny Ramsay gettin' along?" inquired Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"He has completely recovered," Kate replied. "He went back to the +Cross-in-a-box four days ago." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good. I'm glad to hear it." +</P> + +<P> +Paying no further attention to Kate, Loudon calmly proceeded to finish +his breakfast. Kate began to find the silence painful. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Tom," said she, "aren't you even a little bit glad to see me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why should I be glad?" parried Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"You're not very polite, Tom. You—you make me feel very badly. Why, +oh, why do you persist in making it so hard for me?" +</P> + +<P> +Kate's voice was pitched low, and there was a running sob in it. But +Loudon was not in the least affected. +</P> + +<P> +"Last time I seen yuh," Loudon stated, deliberately, "yuh told me flat +yuh never wanted to see me again. Yuh was engaged to Sam Blakely, too. +I don't understand yuh a little bit." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps you will when I explain. You see, I am no longer engaged to +Mr. Blakely." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're lucky." +</P> + +<P> +"I think so myself. Under the circumstances, can't we be friends +again? I didn't mean what I said, boy. Truly I didn't." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon was looking at Kate, but he did not see her as she sat there in +her chair, her black eyes imploring. Instead, he saw her as she +appeared that day in the kitchen of the Bar S, when she wiped his kiss +from her mouth and ordered him to leave her. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're too many for me," he said at last. "I dunno what yo're drivin' +at. But if yuh want to be friends, why, I'm the last fellah in the +world to be yore enemy. Yuh know I never have exactly disliked yuh, +Kate. Well, I got to be weavin' along. Glad to have seen yuh, Kate. +I'll see yuh later, maybe." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you will, Tom. I'll be at Lil's—Mrs. Mace, you know, at +the Bend. You will come and see me, won't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore I will, an' glad to." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon dropped the lady's hand as if it had been a hot iron, and +departed. He had no intention of going near the house of Mrs. Mace. +He never wanted to see Kate Saltoun again. +</P> + +<P> +In the street he found Scotty nervously awaiting him. +</P> + +<P> +"Git yore hoss," said Scotty, "an' let's git out o' here." +</P> + +<P> +"What's all the hurry?" queried Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"That female girl in the hotel. She'll be out in a minute, an' then +yuh'll have to introduce me." +</P> + +<P> +"She's Kate Saltoun, Scotty." +</P> + +<P> +"Old Salt's daughter! It don't sound possible. An' him with a face +like a grizzly. She's shorely four aces, Tom, an' as pretty as a +little red wagon. But I ain't aimin' to make her acquaintance, an' yuh +can gamble on that." +</P> + +<P> +Happily for Scotty's peace of mind he and Loudon left Rocket twenty +minutes ahead of the stage. +</P> + +<P> +The drummer watched the departure of the stage with brooding eyes. +When the dust in the street had settled he had another drink at the bar +and ensconced himself in a corner of the barroom where he could glower +unobserved at the landlord. +</P> + +<P> +The latter had gone to the corral, but the drummer was still sitting in +his chair, when, toward noon, two men entered. They were +unprepossessing individuals, both of them, though one, the tall man +with the black beard, had obviously just washed himself thoroughly. +Even his clothing had been scrubbed. +</P> + +<P> +The drummer sniffed inquiringly. What was that elusive odour—that +strange smell or rather mixture of smells? The drummer sniffed again. +</P> + +<P> +"Got a cold?" growled the black-bearded man. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the drummer, sulkily. +</P> + +<P> +"Then don't snuffle. I don't like snufflin', I don't. It makes me +jumpy, snufflin' does. Breathe through yore mouth if yuh got to." +</P> + +<P> +The look which the black-avised individual bent upon the drummer was +not reassuring. The wretched drummer shrank into himself and took care +to breathe in an inoffensive manner. The black-bearded man was +extremely sensitive about that odour, for it emanated from his own +person and habiliments. Tobacco smoke had no effect upon it. It clung +after the fashion of loving relations. Strong soap, scorched molasses, +and singed feathers, had given birth to that odour. No wonder he was +sensitive! +</P> + +<P> +His companion, whose face bore numerous scratches, stared round the +barroom. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's the barkeep?" he grunted. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't need no barkeep," announced the black-bearded man, and started +to walk round the bar. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't yuh?" inquired the voice of the landlord. "Yuh got another +guess comin'. Yuh can't run no blazers in this shack, Block, an' that +goes." +</P> + +<P> +The eyes of the black-bearded man glowed evilly. He stopped in his +tracks, his raised hand halted in the act of reaching for a bottle. He +stared at the landlord standing in the doorway. The landlord stared +back, his thumbs hooked in his belt. +</P> + +<P> +"Get us a drink then," snarled Block, and he joined his friend in front +of the bar. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what I'm here for," rejoined the landlord, cheerfully. "I +don't care who I serve. Why, I give that a drink awhile ago." He +flicked a contemptuous thumb at the drummer. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry up!" admonished Block. +</P> + +<P> +"No hurry," chirruped the landlord insultingly. "I never was in a +hurry, an' I ain't goin' to begin now. What'll yuh have—milk?" +</P> + +<P> +"Say," exclaimed the man with the scratched face, "are you lookin' for +trouble?" +</P> + +<P> +"Stranger," replied the landlord, turning a pair of calm brown eyes on +his questioner—"stranger, a gent don't never look for trouble. It +comes to him unexpected-like. But none ain't comin' to me to-day. +Soon as I seen you two tinhorns in here I told a friend o' mine. He's +a-watchin' yuh from the window right now." +</P> + +<P> +Block and his friend involuntarily turned their heads. Framed in the +open window were the head and shoulders of a man. In his hands was a +sawed-off shotgun. The blunt muzzle gaped ominously at them. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, by Gawd!" began the scratch-faced man. +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up!" said Block. "These folks seem scared of us. No use +fussin'. We'll just licker an' git." +</P> + +<P> +"Them's the words I like to hear," observed the landlord, slapping +bottle and glasses on the bar. "Yuh can't pull out too quick to suit +me, Block. I know about yore goin's-on down in Farewell—rubbin' out +harmless strangers. Yuh may be a sheriff an' all that, but yore office +don't travel a foot in Sunset County." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh talk big," growled Block. "Yuh needn't think yuh can bluff me. +If I feel like takin' this town apart, I'll do it." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, just like yuh took the Bend apart. Got the molasses out o' +yore system yet?" +</P> + +<P> +Block's eyes were fairly murderous. The landlord grinned. +</P> + +<P> +"That shotgun's double-barrelled," he observed. "Buckshot in each +barrel." +</P> + +<P> +Block gulped his whisky. The scratch-faced man had finished his drink +and was placidly rolling a cigarette. +</P> + +<P> +"Never did like to quarrel," he remarked, "special not with a shotgun. +Mister"—to the landlord—"have any gents from the Bend rode in +to-day—or yesterday?" +</P> + +<P> +"Lookin' for friends?" queried the landlord. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore!" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought so. Well, I can't tell yuh. Yuh see, I ain't right well +acquainted hereabouts. I dunno everybody. There might somebody 'a' +come through, an' then again there mightn't. I seed a Injun yest'day, +though. Looked like a Digger. Might he be yore partic'lar friend?" +An exquisite solicitude was in the landlord's tone. +</P> + +<P> +The other refused to take offence. He smiled wryly. When he spoke, +his words were without rancour. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't claim the Injun. I was thinkin' of a sport named Loudon. +Know him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I told yuh I didn't know many people round here." +</P> + +<P> +"I was just a-wonderin'. I was kind o' anxious to see Loudon." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I dunno nothin' about him." +</P> + +<P> +"There was a man here named Loudon," piped up the drummer, perceiving +an opportunity of annoying the landlord. "He stayed here all night. +Another man was with him, a very dirty old character named Mackenzie. +I think Scotty was his first name." +</P> + +<P> +"Which way did they go?" demanded Block. +</P> + +<P> +"They rode away toward Paradise Bend." +</P> + +<P> +"That drummer can lie faster'n a hoss can trot," drawled the landlord. +</P> + +<P> +"You know they stayed here all night," said the drummer with a flash of +spirit. "I had breakfast with them." +</P> + +<P> +The landlord walked swiftly to the drummer, who quailed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're lyin'!" announced the landlord. "Say so. Say yo're lyin', yuh +pup, or I'll pull yore neck in half." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm lyin'!" cried the drummer, hastily. "I'm lyin'." +</P> + +<P> +"There wasn't nobody here but you, was there?" inquired the landlord. +</P> + +<P> +"N-no." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess that's enough. You see how reliable this sport is, gents. +Can't believe a word he says." +</P> + +<P> +Block turned toward the door. The scratch-faced man winked at his own +reflection in the mirror behind the bar and stuck his tongue in his +cheek. +</P> + +<P> +"C'mon," said Block. +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff and his friend went out into the street. The landlord +followed, his expression one of pleasurable anticipation. Four +citizens of Rocket, grouped on the sidewalk, glumly watched the two men +as they swung into their saddles and loped away. The landlord's face +fell. +</P> + +<P> +"Say," he demanded, "why didn't yuh arrest him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't be did," replied the largest of the quartette, who wore a +marshal's star on his vest. "Loudon said his hoss was a chestnut, +white spot on nose, didn't he? One o' them two cayuses was a black, +but the other was a bald-face pinto. Nothin' like a chestnut." +</P> + +<P> +"But Loudon done said the hoss thief was ridin' with Sheriff Block." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all true enough, an' the party a-ridin' off with Block may be a +hoss thief, but if he is, he ain't ridin' Loudon's hoss. An' Loudon's +hoss is the only one we know about. Got to go by the hoss, Dave." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, looky here, Sim, Loudon described the feller right plain. That's +Rufe Cutting a-ridin' away there with Block, or I'm a Dutchman." +</P> + +<P> +"He may be," returned the marshal, equably, "an' if Loudon was here an' +could identify him I'd grab him too quick. But unless he's ridin' a +chestnut hoss with a white spot on his nose I can't arrest him without +a warrant. An' there ain't no warrant. See how it is, Dave?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I see all right," mourned the landlord, "an' it makes me sick. +Soon as I seen 'em come in my place I says to myself, 'Here's that hoss +thief.' All I thought of was that Loudon said the sport was with +Block. It makes me sick. It shore does. After me a-cookin' it all up +with you to arrest him! C'mon in an' have somethin', an' watch me give +that drummer the prettiest lickin' he ever had in his life." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +SCOTTY ADVISES +</H4> + +<P> +When Loudon and Scotty reached Paradise Bend, they separated, Scotty +going to the Burrs', while Loudon strolled leisurely about the streets. +Loudon visited all the saloons and drew into conversation the +bartenders and other prominent citizens. In less than an hour he met +Scotty behind the Burr corral. +</P> + +<P> +"Five days ago an' early in the mornin'," said Loudon, "a Seven Lazy +Seven boy met O'Leary ridin' the trail to the Flyin' M. O'Leary told +him, an' it wasn't none necessary, that he was goin' to Sucker Creek. +That's away north a good eighty mile. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that same day in the evenin' a freighter, camped on the trail +half-way between the Bend and Rocket, seen O'Leary a-peltin' south. +The freighter only got a flash at him by the light of his fire, but he +knowed him all right, an' he hollered a howdy. O'Leary never notices. +Just leans over his horn an' keeps a-foggin' right along. There yuh +have it—the Flyin' M trail in the mornin', an' twenty-five mile south +o' the Bend in the evenin'. Now who mailed that letter?" +</P> + +<P> +"It looks like O'Leary," admitted Scotty. "But what yuh goin' to do +about it? Yuh can't do nothin', Tom. I tell yuh, yuh got to wait. +Now don't yuh go projeckin' round O'Leary an' kick up any fuss. It +won't do no good, an' yuh might reap some lead. Yo're needed at the +ranch, Tom. Just you keep that in mind." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't fret. I ain't goin' to say nothin' to O'Leary—yet. I'll give +him plenty o' rope to hang himself with. But I wish you'd let me Injun +round some, Scotty. Gimme two weeks, now. Yuh won't regret it." +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Tom, there yuh go again. I need yuh to home, I tell yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, all right; have it yore own way. But if yuh won't gimme the two +weeks now, I'll take 'em later on my own account. I aim to get my hoss +back." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll talk about that later," said Scotty. "You go on in an' see +Dorothy. Y'ought to be ashamed o' yoreself—stickin' out here when +there's a pretty little girl like that in the house." +</P> + +<P> +"Thought yuh didn't like ladies any." +</P> + +<P> +"Depends on the lady. There's brands an' brands, Tom. But that little +girl o' the Cap'n's—well, say, she always makes a gent feel right to +home. Wish I was younger. Yes, sir, I shore wish I didn't have so +many rings on my horns. I'd have you boys runnin' in circles, I would. +Go on in now, Tom, an' if yuh work it right Mis' Burr'll ask yuh to +grub." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon went. +</P> + +<P> +"Just in time for supper," was Mrs. Burr's greeting. "Dorothy's out +front. Pete O'Leary's here again. He's stayin' to supper, too. Thank +Heaven, I'll have a crowd for once. I do enjoy seein' folks eat. Say, +Tom," she added, lowering her voice, "is O'Leary a friend o' yores?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know his name, Mis' Burr," said Loudon, "an' that's about all." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I was just wonderin'. I dunno whether to like that fellah or +not. He strikes me as bein' conceited a lot. He always acts to me +like he thought every girl he knowed was in love with him. He's +good-lookin' an' all that, but I don't cotton to his eyes. They look +as if they was holdin' somethin' back all the time. See what I mean? +Like he was sayin' one thing an' thinkin' another." +</P> + +<P> +"I see," Loudon nodded. He understood perfectly. +</P> + +<P> +"He ain't never hung round Dorothy till lately. But yuh can't say +nothin', I s'pose. Still—oh, well, no use chatterin' about it." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon wondered whether Scotty had known O'Leary was in the house when +he urged Loudon to go in and see Dorothy. The presence of O'Leary did +not forecast an enjoyable meal. +</P> + +<P> +"I just come in for a drink, Mis' Burr," said Loudon. "I wish I could +stay for supper. Thank yuh kindly, all the same, but I got to see a +man down street." +</P> + +<P> +"Huh," grunted Mrs. Burr, skeptically. "Yuh don't like O'Leary +neither, do yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't say nothin' about that, ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +"No, o' course not. Yuh can't fool me, Tom Loudon. There's cool water +in that covered pail. Say, it's too bad about that hoss o' yores. +Scotty told me yuh didn't have no luck in Rocket. It shore is too bad. +He was a right good hoss." +</P> + +<P> +"He is a good hoss, ma'am. He ain't a goner yet, by a jugful. I'll +get him back." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so, an' I hope yuh lynch the thief, or shoot him anyway. He +hadn't ought to live a minute. The Flyin' M cook, too. Yuh can't +hardly believe it." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon got his drink and departed. As he rode past the house he saw +Dorothy and O'Leary sitting on the doorstep. Dorothy waved her hand +and smiled. O'Leary positively beamed. Had Loudon been his oldest +friend O'Leary's greeting could not have been more cordial. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I'd like to know," thought Loudon, as he rode down the street, +"what license he's got to be so cheerful. Is it 'cause I ain't stayin' +to supper, or is it 'cause he's got some other card up his sleeve?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you stay to supper?" chuckled Scotty, when Loudon dropped +into the chair next him at the hotel dining-table. +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't stand it to be away from you so long," retorted Loudon, and +helped himself generously to the butter. +</P> + +<P> +"I kind o' thought it might be that way. Try them pickles. They taste +like they'd been used for tannin' saddles." +</P> + +<P> +Night had not yet fallen when Loudon and Scotty started for the Flying +M. As they passed the house of Big Jim Mace, Scotty groaned. +</P> + +<P> +"Here comes that female girl o' Old Salt's," he whispered, perturbedly. +"She's headin' our way. She's a-callin' to yuh, Tom! She's a-callin' +to yuh! I'm goin' on. I'll wait for yuh on the trail." +</P> + +<P> +There was no disregarding Kate Saltoun. She had even stepped out into +the street in her efforts to attract Loudon's attention. Scotty loped +onward, and Loudon twisted his horse toward the sidewalk. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Kate, smiling up at him, "you are a nice one! I believe +you'd have passed right by without speaking if I hadn't called to you. +Come on in and see Mrs. Mace and me. Jim's down street, and we want +someone to talk to." +</P> + +<P> +"Just someone?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon could have bitten his tongue off for uttering this flirty +remark. But for the life of him he could not help saying it. +</P> + +<P> +Kate smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Someone would probably do for Lil," she said, "but I want you. I've +an awful lot to tell you, Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't, Kate. Honest, I'd like to come in an' see yuh a lot. I +shore would. But I got to ride out to the ranch with Scotty Mackenzie." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that funny old person with the parti-coloured sleeve Scotty +Mackenzie? I've heard Dad speak of him. They never liked each other, +I believe. Bring him over, I'd like to meet him. Then he can talk to +Lil." +</P> + +<P> +"That'd be fine, but yuh see Scotty's in a hurry to get back to the +ranch. I'm afraid we couldn't manage it nohow." +</P> + +<P> +Kate's face fell. Loudon glanced up and saw Dorothy Burr and Pete +O'Leary approaching. Interest, polite in Dorothy's case, speculative +in O'Leary's, was manifest in their expressions. Kate moved closer to +Loudon and laid a hand on the neck of his horse. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom," she whispered, "I just heard what Block tried to do. Lil told +me. You don't believe I had anything to do with it, do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, no, o' course I don't." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Kate, I know you couldn't do a thing like that. Don't yuh think +any more about it." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you do, just the same. Tom, no matter how much I disliked a +person I wouldn't betray him." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe yuh. Honest, I do." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy and O'Leary passing at this juncture, Loudon lifted his hat. +Kate turned and looked after the pair. When her eyes once more met +Loudon's there was a faint trouble in their black depths. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are they?" she queried. +</P> + +<P> +"Cap'n Burr's daughter an' Pete O'Leary." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh." There was deep meaning in that "oh." +</P> + +<P> +"She lives up yonder a ways. Mis' Mace knows her, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +"How nice! Perhaps I shall meet her. I should like to, really. Tell +me, do you know her well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not very well. Yuh see, I ain't in town such a lot. Say, Kate, did +Mis' Mace write an' tell yuh I was up here at the Bend?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I believe she did." Kate's tone was ingenuous. But the quick +upward fling of her eyes was not. +</P> + +<P> +"Did yuh tell yore father an' the boys?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I don't remember, Tom. I might have. Very possibly I did. Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was just a-wonderin'." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean——" gasped Kate, her eyes widening with genuine horror. +</P> + +<P> +At first, misinterpreting the trend of his questioning, she had +believed him brazenly fishing. Now she understood the significance +underlying his words. She wanted to scream. But half the street was +watching them. Underlip caught between her teeth, she sucked in her +breath. Piteously her eyes searched Loudon's face. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom!" she breathed. "Tom! You do think I betrayed you after all. +Oh, Tom, Tom!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Loudon's turn to be distressed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're on the wrong trail, Kate," he soothed. "I know yuh didn't tell +Block or the 88 outfit. But if the Bar S boys knowed I was up here it +could easy get around. Richie o' the Cross-in-a-box an' Cap'n Burr +knowed, too. They might 'a' let it out. I'm sorry I asked yuh if it +makes yuh feel that way." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I see it now. I must have told. And it was my telling that sent +Block up here. Tom, if he had taken you south and—and anything had +happened, it—it would have killed me. Life just wouldn't have been +worth living any longer." +</P> + +<P> +Was ever mortal man in a similar predicament? Here was a beautiful +woman baring her heart to him in broad daylight on a public +thoroughfare. Cold prickles raced madly up and down Loudon's spine. +What could he say? He had a wild impulse to whirl his horse and gallop +after Scotty. Obviously this was the safer course to follow. Weakly +he temporized. +</P> + +<P> +"Kate, do yuh know what yo're sayin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course. Why shouldn't I say it? I love you, don't you know that? +There, it's out! I suppose I ought to be ashamed of myself, but I'm +not. I'm glad." +</P> + +<P> +Throughout the latter part of the conversation Kate had barely spoken +above a whisper, but to Loudon it seemed that she fairly shouted. He +was positive that all the town had heard. His dismayed eyes slid +round. He half-expected to see Mrs. Mace and her neighbours craning +their necks with their hands cupped round their ears. But Mrs. Mace +was not visible, and the score of people in view were not displaying +undue interest. Loudon breathed more easily. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh—yuh——" he stammered, his face beet-red. "Yuh hadn't ought to +'a' said that." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" she demanded, coolly. "It's true." +</P> + +<P> +Her self-possession was extraordinary. She was not even blushing. +This was a Kate that Loudon did not know. In the face of her bald +assertion he could not tell her that matters had completely changed; +that he loved her no longer. No, not that. He realized his +disadvantage acutely, and squirmed. Kate looked expectant. He must +say something, and quickly, too, or she would propose to him on the +spot. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I got to be goin'!" he exclaimed, desperately. "Scotty's waitin' +for me. Gug-gug-good-bye." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye, Tom," said Kate, with a radiant smile. "I'll see you some +other time." +</P> + +<P> +"Some other time!" groaned Loudon, as he galloped down the street. +"Some other time! She will, too. An' what'll I do? What'll I do? I +don't like her any more. I don't like her a little bit. This is shore +one helluva of a fix!" +</P> + +<P> +"What did she do to yuh?" inquired Scotty, when Loudon joined him. +</P> + +<P> +"Do to me! What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh look like yuh'd just missed being hugged to death by a b'ar. No +offence, Tom, but yuh sure do look a heap shivery." +</P> + +<P> +"It's them pickles I had for supper, Scotty. I knowed they'd make me +sick." +</P> + +<P> +"They was rich, for a fact." +</P> + +<P> +They loped in silence for a half-hour. +</P> + +<P> +"Scotty," said Loudon, suddenly, "if anybody comes out to the ranch +a-lookin' for me, tell 'em I've pulled my freight yuh dunno where." +</P> + +<P> +"Anybody?" Scotty quirked an eyebrow. +</P> + +<P> +"Anybody—man, woman, or child." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, say, look here, Tom!" exclaimed Scotty in alarm. "Yuh don't +mean to say that Miss Saltoun girl is a-comin' out to the Flyin' M." +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno. I hope not." +</P> + +<P> +"Which I hope not, too. She's so good-lookin' she scares me, she does. +I don't want to go nowheres near her, an' I won't, neither. No, +sirree. If she ever comes a-traipsin' out to the ranch yuh can do yore +own talkin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, keep yore shirt on. I guess now she won't come." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll bet she's a-aimin' to, or yuh wouldn't 'a' said what yuh did. +Yuh can't fool me, Tom. She'll come, an' she'll bring Jim Mace's wife +along for a chaperon, an' they'll most likely stay for two meals, an' +I'll have to grub in the corral. Great note this is! Druv out o' my +own home by a couple o' female women! +</P> + +<P> +"Laugh! It's awful funny! I never could abide Mis' Mace, either. +She's always talkin', talkin'. Talk the hide off a cow, an' not half +try. How Jim stands her I can't see nohow. If she was my woman I'd +feed her wolf-pizen, or take it myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess now yuh never was married, was yuh, Scotty?" +</P> + +<P> +"Me married! Well, I guess not! Come mighty close to it once. I must +'a' been crazy or drunk, or somethin'—anyway, when I was a young +feller over east in Macpherson, Kansas, me an' Sue Shimmers had it all +fixed for hitchin' up together. Nice girl, Sue was. Good cook, a heap +energetic, an' right pretty in the face. The day before the weddin' +Sue cuts stick an' elopes with Tug Wilson, the blacksmith. +</P> + +<P> +"I felt bad for mighty nigh a week, but I've been a heap joyous ever +since. Yes, sir, Sue developed a lot after marriage. Why, if Tug took +so much as one finger of old Jordan Sue'd wallop him with a axe-handle. +Poor old Tug used to chew up so many cloves he got dyspepsy. Between +the axe-handle an' the dyspepsy Tug had all he could swing to keep +alive. I've never stopped bein' grateful to Tug Wilson. He saved my +life. Yes, sir, as a rule, females is bad medicine." +</P> + +<P> +"How about Mis' Burr an' her daughter?" +</P> + +<P> +"I said as a general rule. Like I told yuh once before, Mis' Burr an' +Dorothy are real ladies, all silk an' several yards wide. A gent can +talk to them just like folks. An' Dorothy can have my ranch an' every +cayuse on it, includin' my mules, any time she wants. Nothin's too +good for that little girl." +</P> + +<P> +"She's shore a winner." +</P> + +<P> +"She's all o' that. Now there's a girl that'll make a ace-high wife. +She wouldn't use no axe-handle. She'd understand a gent's failin's, +she would, an' she'd break him off 'em so nice an' easy he wouldn't +know nothin' about it. Yes, sir, the party that gets Dorothy Burr +needn't worry none 'bout bein' happy." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess now there ain't no party real shore-enough fit to make her a +husband." +</P> + +<P> +"There ain't. No, sir, yuh can bet there ain't. But she'll marry some +no-account tinhorn—them kind always does. Say, why don't you make up +to her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I would," said Loudon, gravely, "only yuh see it wouldn't be +proper. I ain't a no-account tinhorn." +</P> + +<P> +"You ain't, but O'Leary is." +</P> + +<P> +"It ain't gone as far as that!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh never can tell how far anythin's gone with a woman. Yuh never can +tell nothin' about her till it happens. She's a heap unexpected, a +female is. Now I don't say as Dorothy'd marry yuh, Tom. Yuh may not +be her kind o' feller at all. But yo're a sight better'n Pete O'Leary." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks," said Loudon, dryly. +</P> + +<P> +"Then again," rushed on Scotty, deeply engrossed in his subject, "it +ain't noways necessary for yuh to marry her. All yuh got to do is give +O'Leary the run. Chase him off—see? I've been thinkin' some serious +o' doin' it myself, but I'd have to beef him, an' that wouldn't suit +Dorothy. A lady don't like it none to have her admirers shot up. It +only makes her more set to have 'em. But you, Tom, could go about it +in a nice, refined way, an' get Dorothy to likin' yuh better'n she does +O'Leary, an' there yuh are. No blood's spilt, an' the lady is saved." +</P> + +<P> +"But s'pose she didn't cotton to me for a cent?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh got to risk that, o' course. But you can win out over O'Leary, +I'll gamble on that." +</P> + +<P> +"But why am I elected? Why me at all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, say, yuh'd ought to be ashamed o' yoreself, raisin' objections +thisaway. Here I am, tryin' to help out as nice a little girl as ever +breathed, an' yuh got to kick. Selfish, I call it. Can't yuh see I'm +tryin' to do you a good turn, too? There's gratitude for yuh! Well, +it's like I always said: Old folks is never appreciated, no matter what +they do. Yes, sir, I might 'a' saved my breath. Dorothy, she talked +just like you do, only worse." +</P> + +<P> +"What—why, you ain't been talkin' about this to Dor—Miss Burr, have +yuh?" demanded Loudon in horror. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, shore I did," said Scotty, placidly. "I feel like a father to +her, so why not? I didn't say much. I just told her O'Leary was a pup +an' a sheepman an' not fit for her to wipe her feet on, an' why didn't +she take a shine to some other gent for a change? She says, 'Who, for +instance?' An' I says, 'Tom Loudon,' an' that's as far as I got. She +goes up in the air like a pony, instanter." +</P> + +<P> +"Which I should say she might. You had yore nerve, ringin' me into it! +Ain't yuh got no sense at all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Lots. Yo're the witless one. If yuh had any brains yuh'd take my +advice." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't now, even if I wanted to." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore yuh can. She spoke to yuh all right this aft'noon, didn't she?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but——" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'd given her my opinion o' things just about twenty minutes +before yuh met me at the corral. So, yuh see, she wasn't mad at you. +She wasn't really mad at me. I seen the twinkle in her eye all the +time she was givin' me fits. Why, look here, Tom, when she says, 'Who, +for instance?' I couldn't think o' nobody but you. It was impulse, it +was, an' impulses are always right. Wouldn't be impulses if they +wasn't. +</P> + +<P> +"So there y'are. Yuh don't have to marry each other if yuh don't want +to. Shore not. But yuh'd ought to give each other a whirl anyway. +Yuh might hit it off amazin'. I'm bettin' yuh will, I don't care what +either o' yuh say." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, divided between anger and horrified amazement, was speechless. +Scotty Mackenzie was more than astounding. He was hopelessly +impossible. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," remarked Loudon, when he was able to speak, "yuh sure are three +kings an' an ace when it comes to other people's business. Some day, +Scotty, yuh'll go bulgin' into the affairs o' some party who don't +understand yore funny little ways, an' he'll hang yore hide on the +fence." +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose likely," said Scotty, glumly. "It shore is a ungrateful +world. But," he added, brightening, "yuh'll do what I say, won't yuh, +Tom? I tell yuh I know best. I've sort o' cottoned to yuh ever since +I found out who yuh was an' all, an' I always did like Dorothy Burr. +Here's you, an' there she is. Why, it's Providence, Tom, Providence; +an' nobody has a right to fly in the face o' Providence. Yuh won't +never have no luck if yuh do. I ask yuh like a friend, Tom—an' I +hadn't ought to have to ask yuh, not with such a good-looker as +Dorothy—I ask yuh like a friend to go see this little girl, an'——" +</P> + +<P> +"An' prove yo're right," interrupted Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yes. Though I know I'm right, an' I tell yuh plain if you two +don't hook up for keeps yuh'll be sorry. Yes, sir, yuh will. Now +don't say nothin', Tom. Just think it over, an' if yuh want any help +come to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh make me sick. Yuh shore do." +</P> + +<P> +"Think it over. Think it over." +</P> + +<P> +"Think nothin' over! I ain't in love with Miss Burr, an' I ain't +a-goin' to be. Yuh can gamble on that, old-timer. As a woman-wrangler +I'm a good hoss an' cowman, an' hereafter from now on I'm a-stickin' to +what I know best." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon relapsed into sulky silence. Yet for the life of him he could +not be wholly angry with Scotty Mackenzie. No one could. Scotty was +Scotty, and, where another man would have been shot, Scotty went +scatheless. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Slick!" said Scotty, ten minutes after arriving at the Flying M; +"Slick, I guess yes. The feller that wrote that letter knowed my +writin' better'n I do myself. Don't blame yuh a mite, Doubleday, for +bein' fooled. Don't blame yuh a mite. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll fix this trick for good and all. Hereafter I don't write no more +letters to yuh, see? Then if our forgin' brother takes his pen in hand +again it won't do him no good.... What? No, I'm too sleepy. You go +down an' ask Loudon. He was the centre o' curiosity, an' he knows more +about that riot at the Bend than I do." +</P> + +<P> +When Doubleday had gone Scotty Mackenzie did not act like a person +overcome by sleep. He lit a cigarette, slid down in his chair, and put +his feet on the desk. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're a great man, Scotty," he chuckled. "Yes, sir, I dunno as I ever +seen yore like. I didn't know yuh was such a deeplomat. No, sir, I +shore didn't." +</P> + +<P> +But Mr. Mackenzie did not realize that Loudon in his statements +regarding possible affection for Miss Dorothy Burr meant exactly what +he said. +</P> + +<P> +On the corral fence Loudon sat with Telescope Laguerre and related his +adventures. The half-breed hearkened sympathetically. Occasionally he +removed the cigarette from his lips in order to swear. +</P> + +<P> +"And," said Loudon in conclusion, "I'm goin' south after the little +hoss in two or three weeks." +</P> + +<P> +"Queet?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep." +</P> + +<P> +"I queet, too. I go wit' you." +</P> + +<P> +"What for? No need o' you losin' yore job, too." +</P> + +<P> +"—— de job! I been here long tam—two, t'ree year. I wan' for move +along un see w'at happen een de worl'. Een you' beesness, two gun ees +better dan only wan. Are you me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm you all right enough. I'll be glad to have yuh with me, +Telescope, but——" +</P> + +<P> +"Den dat ees settle'," interrupted Telescope, his eyes glittering in +the glow of his cigarette. "Wen you go, I go, un togedder we weel geet +de leetle hoss. Ah, my frien', eet ees de luck I have you to go wit'. +I been knowin' for week now I mus' go soon." +</P> + +<P> +"Gettin' restless?" +</P> + +<P> +Telescope nodded, his eyes fixed on the far-away line of saw-toothed +mountains black against the stars. When he spoke, his voice had +altered. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, de ole tam have come back to me, un w'en de old tam do dat I can +not stay. I mus'—— My frien', have you evair love a woman?" +</P> + +<P> +"Once I did." +</P> + +<P> +"Den you weel understan'. Wan tam, fifteen year ago, I have woman. I +have odder woman now un den—five, six mabbe, but dey was Enjun un +breed. Dees woman she was not Enjun. She was Franįaise, un we was +marry un leeve over on de Sweetwatair Rivičre near de Medicine Mountain. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we was happy, she un me, un I was hunt de buffalo for Ole Man +Rantoul. Rantoul she have de post dere on de Sweetwatair. Dere was +odder men keel de buffalo for Rantoul, un wan of dese men she see my +wife Marie w'en she go wit' me to de post. Dees man she yong man name' +Taylor—Pony George dey call heem, 'cause she was all tam bust de pony. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, wan tam I go 'way two—t'ree week, mabbe. I come home een de +afternoon. No leetle dog she play 'roun' de log-house. No smoke from +de chimeny. No Marie she stan' at de door. +</P> + +<P> +"I go queeck to de house. Leetle dog lie dead in front de door. Door +shut. I go een. I fin' Marie—I fin' Marie!" A wild, fierce note +crept into the low monotone. "I fin' my Marie on de floor. She varree +weak, but she can talk leetle. She tell me w'at happen. Two day +before I geet back Pony George come to de log-house. Pony George she +try for mak' de love to my wife. Marie she go for rifle. Pony George +geet de rifle firs'. Dog try for bite heem. Pony George keeck de dog +out un shoot heem. +</P> + +<P> +"My wife she grab de knife. She fight. But Pony George strong man. +Get cut leetle, but not bad. He—he—well, I can do nothin' for my +wife. Nex' day she die. +</P> + +<P> +"I ride to de post of Ole Man Rantoul. Pony George not dere. Rantoul +say Pony George go 'way t'ree day before—not come back. I go after +Pony George. I not fin' heem. I go sout' to de Nation. I go to +Dakota. I go all de way from Canaday to de Rio Grande. Five year I +heet de trail, but I never fin' Pony George. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I work on de ranch, but always I can not stay. W'en de ole tam +come back I mus' go. Well, my frien', some day I fin' Pony George, un +w'en dat day come I weel hang hees hair on my bridle. Ah, I weel keel +dat man—keel heem slow, so she weel have plenty tam for see hees deat' +before she die." +</P> + +<P> +Abruptly Telescope Laguerre slipped down to the ground and vanished in +the darkness. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE DANCE +</H4> + +<P> +A week later, while the outfit was eating supper, Swing Tunstall burst +yelling into the bunkhouse. He flung his hat on the floor and thudded +into his seat. +</P> + +<P> +"Dance!" he whooped, hammering on the table with his knife and fork. +"Dance! Big dance! Down at the Bend. Next week. Saturday night. +They're a-goin' to have it in the hotel. Hooray!" +</P> + +<P> +"Pass him the beans, quick!" shouted Doubleday. "Get him to eatin' +before the roof pulls loose. When djuh say it was, Swing?" +</P> + +<P> +"Saturday night, next week. Butter, butter, who's got the grease? An' +the canned cow. That's the stuffy. Say, that's gonna be a reg'lar +elephant of a dance, that is. They's a new girl in town—I seen her. +She's stayin' at Mis' Mace's, an' she's as pretty as a royal flush. +Miss Kate Saltoun her name is, an' she's from the Bar S down on the +Lazy River." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll all go," announced Doubleday. +</P> + +<P> +"You bet we will," said Giant Morton. "Swing, where's that necktie o' +mine yuh borried last week?—yes, the red one. You know the one I +mean. You wanted it so's yuh could make a hit with that hash-slinger +at the hotel. Can't fool me, yuh old tarrapin. Where is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll git it for yuh later," gurgled Tunstall, his mouth full. "I +don't guess I lost it. Ca'm yoreself. Giant, ca'm yoreself. What's a +necktie?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't guess yuh've lost it! Well, I like that! I paid a dollar six +bits for that necktie down at the Chicago Store. There ain't another +like it in the territory. Ragsdale said so himself. You gimme that +necktie or I'll pizen yore bronc." +</P> + +<P> +"Goin' to de Bend to-morrow?" inquired Telescope of Loudon, when they +were riding the range the day before the dance. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't guess so. I don't feel just like dancin'. Don't enjoy it +like I used to. Gettin' old, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm goin', but not to de dance een de hotel. I'm goin' to de dance +hall, un I weel play de pokair, too. Ah, I weel have de good tam. W'y +not you come wit' me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe I will. See how I feel to-morrow. I'm goin' to pull my freight +next week sometime. Got an engagement in Farewell in five weeks or so, +an' I want to find the little hoss before then." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll fin' heem, you un me. I am ready any tam you say." +</P> + +<P> +That evening Scotty Mackenzie halted Loudon on his way to the bunkhouse. +</P> + +<P> +"Goin' to the dance, Tom?" queried Scotty. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm goin' to the Bend, but no dance in mine." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, you make me sick! Dorothy'll be at that dance, an' yuh'll hurt +her feelin's if yuh don't go. She'll think yuh don't want to dance +with her or somethin'." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't help what she thinks, can I? I don't have to go to that +dance." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh don't have to, o' course not, but yuh got to think o' other folks. +Why, only day before yesterday when I was at the Bend she was askin' +after yuh, an' I told her yuh'd shore see her at the dance." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh did, did yuh? All right, I'm goin' to the Bend to-morrow with the +rest o' the boys, but I've got a little poker game in mind. The dance +is barred, Scotty." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, all right. Have it yore own way. I'm only tryin' to help yuh +out. Say, Tom, y'ain't still thinkin' o' goin' away, are yuh? Yuh can +have that bay like I said, an' another pony, too, if yuh like. Yuh +see, I want yuh to stay here at the Flyin' M. I'm hard up for men now, +an'——" +</P> + +<P> +"Say," interrupted Loudon, on whom a great light had suddenly dawned, +"say, is that why yo're so anxious to have me go see Miss Burr, huh? +So I'll fall in love with her, an' stay here, huh? Is that it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Tom, o' course not," denied Scotty, indignantly. "I wasn't +thinkin' o' such a thing." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't none so shore, Scotty. It sounds just like yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it ain't like me nohow. Yo're wrong, Tom, all wrong as usual. +Suit yoreself about the dance, suit yoreself. I got nothin' more to +say. Here's a letter come for yuh to-day." +</P> + +<P> +Scotty handed the letter to Loudon and departed, offended dignity in +the set of his shoulders. The pose was assumed, and Loudon knew it. +When next they met, Scotty would reopen his favourite issue as usual. +</P> + +<P> +"Now how did he guess it?" wondered Scotty, gloomily, kicking the +pebbles on his way to the office. "How did he guess the truth, I'd +like to know? An' he's goin' away after all! The best man in the +outfit! I got to do somethin', that's a cinch." +</P> + +<P> +Poor Scotty! So must Machiavelli have felt when one of his dearest +schemes was upset by some clever Florentine. +</P> + +<P> +Left alone, Loudon tore open the letter. It ran: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P STYLE="font-size: 85%"> +Dere frend lowden Id uv rote sooner only Ive been sick fele bad stil +sene things fur a weak but I can rite now anyhow. Wel, after you an +Mackenzy lef in the afternoon Block an the uther fellar rid in. I noed +the uther fellar what stole yore hoss cause he looked just like you sed +hed look but the hoss he was ridin wasnt yore hoss he was sumbuddy +elses hoss I dunno whoos yet. Wen I sene Block an him I had it all +fixed up with the marshul to arest the uther fellar but the hoss wasnt +yourn it was a bawlface pinto so the marshal couldnt arest him without +a warant. Block an him rode away on the trail to Farewel. Block tride +to find out bout you an Scotty and that drummer told him how you an +Scotty had rid back to the Bend. Wel, I knoked the drummer down an +stepped on his face an throwed him into the waterin-troff an kiked him +three times roun the house. I'm lookin out for yore hoss wen I see him +I'll let you noe hopin this fines you like it leeves me yore frien Dave +Sinclair. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Dave Sinclair was the landlord of the hotel in Rocket. Loudon re-read +the letter and swore whole-heartedly. To miss Rufe Cutting by a few +hours! Riding a bald-faced pinto, was he? What had he done with +Ranger? Loudon went to the bunkhouse in a brown study. +</P> + +<P> +Scotty alone of the Flying M outfit elected to remain at the ranch the +night of the dance. All the others raced into town before sunset. At +the ford of the Dogsoldier they met the Seven Lazy Seven boys from +beyond the Government Hills. Doubleday greeted Dawson, the Seven Lazy +Seven foreman, with a long wolf-howl. Whooping and yelling, the riders +squattered across the creek and poured into Paradise Bend, the +wild-eyed ponies rocketing like jack-rabbits. +</P> + +<P> +It was an expansive evening in the Bend. The corrals were full of +ponies bearing on their hips the brands of the Two Bar, TVU, Double +Diamond K, Wagonwheel, and half-a-dozen other ranches. In the hotel +corral where the Flying M outfit unsaddled, Loudon saw horses belonging +to the Barred O and the T up-and-down, which ranches were a score of +miles southwest of Rocket. +</P> + +<P> +The men of the various outfits circulated rapidly from saloon to +saloon. By midnight many would be drunk. But there were several hours +before midnight. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon and Telescope left their comrades lining up at the hotel bar and +gravitated to the Three Card. Here they found Jim Mace and Marshal Dan +Smith, who hailed them both with marked cordiality. They drank +together, and Jim Mace suggested a little game. Telescope's eyes began +to gleam, and Loudon perceived that his friend was lost to him for that +evening. Loudon was in no mood for poker, so the three prevailed upon +a gentleman from the Barred O to make a fourth, and retired to an empty +table in the corner of the room. Loudon remained standing at the bar, +regarding the rows of bottles on the shelves and gloomily pondering the +exigencies of life. +</P> + +<P> +"Cards no good," he reflected. "Dancin' the same. Nothin' goes good +no more. Even licker don't taste like it used to. Guess I better have +another an' make shore." +</P> + +<P> +He had another. After a time he felt better, and decided to look in at +the dance. From the open windows of the hotel issued sounds of +revelry—the shuffle and pound of boot-leather and the inspiring +strains of the "Arkansaw Traveller" played by two fiddlers sitting on a +table. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, his hat pulled forward, leaned his chest against a windowsill +and peered over the fat shoulders of Mrs. Ragsdale and a freighter's +wife, who were enjoying the festivities with such zest that the chairs +they sat in were on the point of collapse. +</P> + +<P> +Kate Saltoun and Dorothy Burr were dancing in the same set. Dawson of +the Seven Lazy Seven was Kate's partner, and Pete O'Leary swung +Dorothy. Loudon was struck by the fact that Kate was not smiling. Her +movements, likewise, lacked a certain springiness which was one of her +salient characteristics. +</P> + +<P> +"Somebody must 'a' stepped on her toe," decided Loudon. "Bet she don't +dance with Dawson again." +</P> + +<P> +She didn't. Marshal Dan Smith, perspiring and painfully conscious of a +hard shirt and a forest-fire necktie, was her next partner. Loudon +wondered why he had not hitherto perceived the marked resemblance +between Dan Smith and a jack-rabbit. He found himself speculating on +Kate's reasons for breaking her engagement. As he looked at Kate, her +extreme beauty, contrasted with that of the other girls in the room, +was striking. +</P> + +<P> +"Kate is certainly a heap good-looker." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ragsdale and the freighter's wife turned sharply and stared +open-mouthed at Loudon. Not till then did that young man realize that +he had voiced aloud his estimate of Kate Saltoun. He fled hurriedly, +his skin prickling all over, and dived into the kindly darkness behind +the corral. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I have done it!" he mourned, bitterly, squatting on the ground. +"Those old tongue-wagglers heard me, an' they'll tell her. I seen it +in their faces. What'll she think o' me. Luck! There ain't no such +thing. If all the rocks was tobacco an' all the grass +cigarette-papers, I'd be there without a match." +</P> + +<P> +From the hotel drifted thinly the lilt of "Buffalo Girls." A bevy of +convivial beings in the street were bawling "The Days of Forty-Nine." +Across the discordant riot of sound cut the sudden clipping drum of a +galloping pony. +</P> + +<P> +"Injuns!" shouted a voice. "Injuns!" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon sprang up and dashed around the corral. In the flare of light +from the hotel doorway a dusty man sat a dustier horse. The man was +hatless, his dark hair was matted with dirt and sweat, and his eyes +were wild. +</P> + +<P> +"Injuns!" cried the dusty man. "Injuns on Hatchet Creek! I want help!" +</P> + +<P> +In thirty seconds there was a fair-sized group surrounding the +horseman. In a minute and a half the group had become a crowd. Up +bustled Marshal Dan Smith followed by Telescope Laguerre, Jim Mace, and +the gentleman from the Barred O. Loudon, first on the scene, was +jammed against the rider's stirrup. +</P> + +<P> +"Gents," the dusty man was saying, "my three pardners are a-standin' +off the war-whoops in a shack over by Johnson's Peak on Hatchet Creek. +There's more'n a hundred o' them feather-dusters an' they'll have my +pardners' hair if yuh don't come a-runnin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Johnson's Peak!" exclaimed Jim Mace. "That's fifty mile away!" +</P> + +<P> +"All o' that," assented the dusty man, wearily, without turning his +head. "For God's sake, gents, do somethin', can't yuh? An' gimme a +fresh hoss." +</P> + +<P> +Already three quarters of his hearers were streaking homeward for their +Winchesters and saddles. The men from the ranches were the last to +move away. No need for them to hurry. The few who had brought rifles +to the Bend had left them with their saddles at the various corrals. +</P> + +<P> +Within half an hour the dusty man, mounted on one of the marshal's +ponies, was heading a posse composed of every available man in Paradise +Bend. Only the marshal and two men who were sick remained behind. +</P> + +<P> +The posse, a column of black and bobbing shapes in the starlight, loped +steadily. Many of the ponies had travelled twenty and thirty miles +that day, and there were fifty more to pass under their hoofs. The +average cow-horse is a hardy brute and can perform miracles of work +when called upon. Secure in this knowledge, the riders fully intended +to ride out their mounts to the last gasp. +</P> + +<P> +Doubleday and Dawson rode stirrup to stirrup with the man from Hatchet +Creek. Tailing these three were Loudon, Telescope Laguerre, the Barred +O puncher, and Jim Mace. +</P> + +<P> +"How'd yuh get through, stranger?" queried Doubleday. +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno," said the dusty man. "I jus' did. I had to. It was make or +break. Them war-whoops chased me quite a spell." +</P> + +<P> +"You was lucky," observed Dawson. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're whistlin' I was. We was all lucky when it comes to that. We +was at the shack eatin' dinner when they jumped us. S'pose we'd been +down the creek where our claims is at, huh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're hair would shore be decoratin' a Injun bridle," admitted Dawson. +"But I didn't know there was gold on Hatchet Creek." +</P> + +<P> +"We got four claims," said the dusty man, shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"Gettin' much?" +</P> + +<P> +"We ain't millionaires yet." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I guess not," whispered Jim Mace to Loudon. "I'll gamble that +gravel don't assay a nickel a ton. Been all through them hills, I +have. I know Hatchet like I do the Dogsoldier. There's no gold there." +</P> + +<P> +"This prospector party says different," muttered Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll see," sniffed Jim Mace. "Gold on the Hatchet! He's loco! +You'll see." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a good thing, stranger," Dawson was saying, "yuh hit the Bend +when we was havin' a dance. There ain't more'n fifty or sixty men +a-livin' reg'lar in the place." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the dusty man, "I did think o' headin' for Fort Yardley. +But them feather-dusters was in between, so it was the Bend or nothin'. +Oh, I knowed I was takin' chances, what with no ranches in between, an' +the little hoss liable to go lame on me an' all. It's a long ride, +gents. Say, seems like we're a-crawlin' an' a-crawlin' an' gittin' +nowheres." +</P> + +<P> +"We're a-gittin' some'ers right lively," corrected Doubleday. "If yore +pardners have plenty o' cartridges they'll be a-holdin' out all right +when we git there. Don't yuh fret none, stranger." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't—only—only—well, gents, there was a roarin' passel o' them +Injuns." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, shore, but we'll strike the Hatchet near Tepee Mountain 'round +sun-up, an' from Tepee to Johnson's Peak ain't more'n twenty +miles—less, if anythin'." +</P> + +<P> +In the keen light of dawn the pyramidal bulk of Tepee Mountain loomed +not six miles ahead. When the sun rose the posse had skirted its base +and was riding along the bank of Hatchet Creek. +</P> + +<P> +And now the dusty man began to display signs of a great nervousness. +He fidgeted in his saddle, examined and tried the lever action of his +rifle, and gloomily repeated many times that he believed the posse +would arrive too late. As they passed above a cut bank, the dusty man, +riding near the edge, dropped his Winchester. The piece slipped over +the edge and splashed into the water fifteen feet below. Swearing, the +dusty man rode back to where the bank was lower and dismounted. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't wait for me!" he shouted, wading upstream. "I'll catch up." +</P> + +<P> +The posse rode onward. Some of the horses were staggering with +fatigue. All of them were jaded and dripping with sweat. Suddenly +Telescope Laguerre rode from the line and vaulted out of his saddle. +He landed on his hands and knees and remained in that position, his +head thrust forward, his eyes blazing with excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"What's eatin' Telescope?" demanded Doubleday. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom! Tom! Come here! Queeck!" shouted the half-breed. +</P> + +<P> +"Say!" snorted Doubleday. "What is this, anyway? Do you fellers know +there's some Injuns up here a piece?" +</P> + +<P> +But Loudon had joined Telescope and neither of the two gave the +slightest heed to the outraged Doubleday. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!" exclaimed Laguerre, as the tail of the column passed. "Look! +Yore hoss she come out o' de wood here! See!" +</P> + +<P> +"My hoss! You mean Ranger?" Loudon stared, thunderstruck, at the +hoofmarks of two horses. +</P> + +<P> +"Yore hoss, Ranger! Ah, once I see de hoss-track I know heem again! +Las' tam you shoe de hoss you shoe heem all 'roun'. Dees ees hees +track. No man was ride heem. She was de led hoss. Feller ride odder +hoss. See! Dey come out de wood un go dees way." +</P> + +<P> +Telescope waved a hand over the way they had come. +</P> + +<P> +"How old are the tracks?" queried Loudon, breathlessly. +</P> + +<P> +"Mabbeso four day. No use follow dem. We lose 'em on de hard groun'." +</P> + +<P> +"Telescope, I got an idea somethin's wrong. I dunno what, but these +tracks comin' in here thisaway, an' that fellah with the Injun story—I +guess now they hitch somehow. I tell yuh I dunno how"—as Telescope +opened his mouth to speak—"an' I may be wrong, but I'm goin' back +after that party from Hatchet Creek." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon swung into his saddle and spurred his mount. The animal +responded gamely, but a pitifully slow lope was the best speed it could +shake out of its weary legs. Laguerre's pony was in worse case. The +short halt had stiffened his knees slightly and he stumbled at every +other step. The two men lolloped jerkily downstream. Rounding a sharp +bend, they came in sight of the cut bank where the dusty stranger had +dropped his gun. Neither man nor horse was visible. +</P> + +<P> +"By gar!" exclaimed Laguerre. "By gar!" +</P> + +<P> +Just then his horse stumbled for the last time, fell on its knees, and +rolled over on its side. Laguerre flung himself clear and bounced to +his feet. The pony struggled up, but Laguerre did not remount. He +dragged his rifle from the scabbard and ran forward on foot to rejoin +his comrade. Loudon was leaning over the saddlehorn examining the spot +where the dusty man had left his horse. +</P> + +<P> +"Ground's kind o' hard," said Loudon, "but it looks like he'd headed +for that flat." +</P> + +<P> +"He go dere all right!" exclaimed Laguerre, excitedly. "Come on, Tom!" +</P> + +<P> +Running awkwardly, for cow-country boots are not fashioned for rapid +locomotion, Laguerre led the way toward a broad meadow fifty yards +away. Once in the meadow the trail was easier to follow. The meadow +was at least a quarter-mile wide, and woods bordered it on three sides. +</P> + +<P> +The trail led straight across it, and on into the forest. The trees +did not grow thickly, and Laguerre, his eyes on the ground, threaded +his way in and out between the trunks at an ankle-straining trot. He +had excellent wind, had Telescope Laguerre. Loudon was forced to +employ spurs and quirt in order to keep up with him. +</P> + +<P> +Four hundred yards deep in the forest they saw ahead an opening in the +trees. A minute later they charged into a large meadow. In the middle +of the meadow was an ancient shack, doorless, the roof fallen in, +flanked by a corral which gave evidence of having been recently +repaired. +</P> + +<P> +"Somethin' movin' in that corral," said Loudon, and dragged out his gun. +</P> + +<P> +Then, in half a watch-tick, a man on a chestnut horse flashed across +the open space between the corral and the shack. Loudon and Laguerre +swung to one side, but the man did not immediately reappear on the +other side of the shack. A few steps farther and they saw him. He was +riding directly away from them and was within fifty yards of the forest. +</P> + +<P> +The fugitive was a long two hundred yards distant, but they recognized +his back without any difficulty. He was the dusty man from Hatchet +Creek, and his horse was Loudon's Ranger. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out for the hoss!" cried Loudon, as Laguerre flung up his rifle. +</P> + +<P> +The rifle cracked spitefully once and again. The rider, with a +derisive yell, disappeared among the trees. Laguerre dropped his +rifle-butt, and began to utter strange and awful oaths in a polyglot of +French and English. Loudon sheathed his six-shooter, kicked his feet +out of the stirrups, and calmly rolled a cigarette. +</P> + +<P> +"No use a-cussin', Telescope," he observed. "He's done gone." +</P> + +<P> +Pht-bang! a rifle spat from the distant wood. Loudon's horse gave a +convulsive sidewise leap, dropped with a groan and rolled half over, +pinning Loudon to the ground. Laguerre, flat on his stomach, was +firing at the thinning smoke-cloud under the trees. But there were no +more shots from the forest. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Telescope," called Loudon, "when yuh get plumb through would yuh +mind pullin' this cayuse off o' my legs?" +</P> + +<P> +Still cursing, Laguerre levered up the body of the dead pony with the +barrel of his rifle, and Loudon wriggled free. He endeavoured to stand +on his feet, but sat down abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"What's de matter?" inquired Laguerre. "Bullet hit you, too?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Loudon, gingerly feeling his right ankle, "my foot feels +funny." +</P> + +<P> +"Mabbeso de leg broke," suggested Laguerre. "Mabbeso dat feller she +try anudder shot. Better you be behin' de log-house." +</P> + +<P> +He picked up his rifle, helped Loudon to stand erect, and passed an arm +around his waist. So, hopping on one foot, Loudon reached the shelter +of the shack wall. Laguerre eased him to the ground and skipped nimbly +down past the corral. +</P> + +<P> +"Mabbeso I geet dat feller," he called over his shoulder. "Be back +soon." +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre returned in five minutes. +</P> + +<P> +"Dat feller she geet clean away," he said, disconsolately. "Nevair +touch heem. By gar! Eef I not have run so hard, I shoot better. Geet +heem shore den." +</P> + +<P> +"Pull my boot off, will yuh, Telescope?" requested Loudon, extending +his leg. +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre pulled. Loudon gritted his teeth. The pain was sharp, +nauseating. +</P> + +<P> +"It's no good," said Loudon, thickly. "Got to cut the boot off." +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre whipped out his knife and slit the leather from instep to top. +Gently he removed the boot. Loudon peeled off the sock. The ankle was +badly swollen. +</P> + +<P> +"Wiggle de toe," commanded Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon wriggled his toes and was able to move his ankle slightly, not +without a deal of pain, however. He noted with thankfulness that the +pain was continuous, and not stabbing as it is when a bone is involved. +</P> + +<P> +"Bone's all right," he observed, cheerfully. "Only a sprain, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +"Dat ees good," said Laguerre. "I geet de odder hoss." +</P> + +<P> +He strode to the dead horse and stripped off saddle and bridle. +</P> + +<P> +"Say," said Loudon, "I can do that while yo're goin' for the hoss. +We'll have to leave 'em here, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"No, not dees treep, my frien'," Laguerre said, carrying saddle and +bridle toward the corral. "Dat feller she leave Dan Smeet's hoss on de +odder side de corral. Hoss she pretty tire', but she carry you all +right." +</P> + +<P> +On his hands and knees Loudon crawled to the corral and peered between +the bars. The corral was a large one. Till recently the grass had +grown thickly within it. But that grass had been nibbled to the roots, +and the marks of shod hoofs were everywhere. From a spring near the +shack a small stream ran through one corner of the corral. +</P> + +<P> +"Slick," said Loudon. "Couldn't have been better, could it?" +</P> + +<P> +"No eet could not," agreed Laguerre. "She feex up dees ole corral +fine. Dat Ranger hoss she been here mabbeso four day. She have de +grass. She have de watair. She all ready fresh w'en dat feller she +come. Un how can we follow wit' de tire' pony? Oh, she have eet +figure all out. For w'y? Can you tell me dat, Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno. It shore is too many for me." +</P> + +<P> +He painfully made his way to the spring, drank, and then soaked his +sprained ankle in the icy stream till Laguerre came to help him into +the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +On the bank of the Hatchet they found Laguerre's pony lying where it +had fallen. The animal was not dead. It was sound asleep. +</P> + +<P> +"Hear dat?" said Laguerre, late in the afternoon. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon listened. From afar off came a buzzing murmur. It grew louder +and louder. +</P> + +<P> +"The boys are some het up," observed Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +The posse straggled into view. The boys were "het up." They were all +talking at once. Evidently they had been talking for some time, and +they were full of their subject. At sight of Loudon and his bootless +leg the clamour stilled. +</P> + +<P> +"Hit bad, Tom?" called Doubleday. +</P> + +<P> +"Hoss fell on me," explained Loudon. "Yuh don't have to say nothin', +Doubleday," he added, as the foreman dismounted beside him. "I know +just what happened." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yuh do, do yuh?" snorted Doubleday, wrathfully. "I might 'a' +knowed there was somethin' up when that gent an' you fellers didn't +catch up. An' us ridin' our heads off from hell to breakfast! Why, +we'd be combin' this country yet only we met some o' the cavalry from +Fort Yardley an' they said there ain't been an Injun off the +reservation for a month. They shore give us the laugh. ——! That's +his hoss! Did yuh get him?" +</P> + +<P> +"We did not. The fellah got away nice as yuh please on my hoss +Ranger—yep, the hoss Rufe Cutting stole in the Bend. Gimme the +makin's, somebody, an' I'll tell yuh what happened." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A DETERMINED WOMAN +</H4> + +<P> +A long, ragged line of dirty, tired men, and sweat-caked, +drooping-headed horses, the posse rode into Paradise Bend in the +afternoon of the following day. The men were quiet. Silently they +dispersed to the various corrals. Loudon, his right leg dangling free, +had suffered increasingly during the long ride. By the time the Bend +was reached the pain in his ankle was torturing. At the hotel corral +Laguerre and Doubleday helped him to dismount. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh got to go to bed awhile, Tom," pronounced Doubleday. "Grab my +shoulder." +</P> + +<P> +"Where was you thinkin' o' takin' him?" demanded the exceedingly cross +voice of Mrs. Burr. +</P> + +<P> +"The hotel, ma'am," replied Doubleday, taking off his hat. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Burr marched forward and halted in front of the trio. She stuck +her arms akimbo and glared at Doubleday. +</P> + +<P> +"The hotel!" she snapped. "The hotel! An' my house close by! What's +the matter with you, John Doubleday? My land, it's a good thing I seen +you three a-comin' in here. I just knowed yuh was aimin' to put him in +the hotel. Yuh'll do nothin' o' the kind. Yuh hear me! I ain't goin' +to have no friend o' mine with a game leg a-roostin' in this hotel. +The beds are bad, an' the grub's worse. What's the matter, Tom? Shot?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's only a sprain, ma'am," said Loudon. "An' I guess if yuh don't +mind, I'll go to the hotel. I couldn't think o' troublin' yuh, ma'am. +Thank yuh a lot, but I couldn't, honest." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yuh couldn't, couldn't yuh? My land, ain't yuh uppity all of a +sudden? Yuh don't know what yo're talkin' about. Men never do nohow +an' a sick man don't, special. Yo're a-comin' to my house, an' I'm +a-goin' to put yuh to bed an' cure that sprained ankle. Yuh can just +bet I am. John Doubleday, you h'ist him aboard that pony right away +quick an' fetch him round instanter. If he ain't outside my door in +five minutes I'll come back an' know the reason why. Hurry now. I'm +goin' ahead an' get some hot water ready." +</P> + +<P> +Twenty minutes later Loudon was sitting in the Burr kitchen. He was +smoking a cigarette and soaking his sprained ankle in a bucket of hot +water. At the kitchen table stood Mrs. Burr shaking up a bottle of +horse liniment. +</P> + +<P> +"What's this John Doubleday tells me about yore ride no'th bein' a +joke?" asked Mrs. Burr. +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno no more'n Doubleday," replied Loudon. "It's all beyond me." +</P> + +<P> +"It's shore a heap funny. No feather-dusters, no miner folks +a-standin' 'em off, an' that gent who brought the news runnin' off +thataway an' shootin' at yuh an' all. It must mean somethin', though. +A feller wouldn't do all that just for a real joke. It's too much." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I knew what it meant, ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's a queer world, full o' queer folks an' queerer doin's," +observed the lady, holding the bottle against the light. "Anyhow, this +here liniment will fix yuh up fine as frog's hair. Now yuh must just +lift yore foot out an' I'll dry it. Shut up! Who's running this, I'd +like to know? Land sakes, why shouldn't I dry yore ankle? Shut up, I +tell yuh. +</P> + +<P> +"My fathers, Tom, you men make me plumb tired! Idjits, the lot o' yuh. +No more sense than so many fool hens. What yuh all need is wives to +think for yuh, tell yuh what to do, an' all that. There now, it's dry. +Where's that cloth? Hold the foot still while I wrap it 'round. Now +this liniment's a-goin' to burn. But the burnin's healin'. The harder +it burns the quicker yuh'll get well. Shore! +</P> + +<P> +"As I was sayin', Tom, yuh'd ought to get married. Do yuh good. Make +yuh steadier—give yuh a new interest in life, an' all that. Ever +think of it, Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Burr rose to her feet and beamed down upon Loudon. That young man +was beginning to feel strangely weak. First Scotty, and now Mrs. Burr! +What was the matter with everybody? Scotty, of course, was an +eccentric. But for Mrs. Burr brazenly to hurl her daughter at his head +was incomprehensible. Loudon, red to the ears, mustered a weak smile. +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno, ma'am," he gulped, uncomfortably. "I—I hadn't thought of +it, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yuh'd ought to think of it. An' if yuh know what's best for +yuh, yuh will think of it—hard. I tell yuh flat, Tom, a single man +ain't no-account. He don't gather no moss, but he does collect bad +habits. Now a wife she stops all this rattlin' round a-diggin' up what +St. Peter will ask yuh questions about. Yessir, a good wife keeps yuh +up to the bit an' a-headin' the right way." +</P> + +<P> +Nervously Loudon began to roll another cigarette. He hoped that Mrs. +Burr had finished. His hope was vain. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now, Tom, ain't I right?" she demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, ma'am, shore, plumb right," Loudon hastened to assure her. +</P> + +<P> +"'Course I am. I knowed yuh'd see it that way. Why don't yuh do it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh know perfectly well what I mean. Ask a girl to marry yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Any girl?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not just any girl. If yuh was to ask me I could tell yuh who right +quick. But I suppose that wouldn't do." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon was devoutly thankful that the lady possessed some sense of +propriety. +</P> + +<P> +"We-e-ell, ma'am," he said, slowly, "no girl would have me." +</P> + +<P> +"Did yuh ever ask one?" This with a shrewd cock of the eyebrow. +</P> + +<P> +"I did once." +</P> + +<P> +"An' she give yuh the mitten, huh? More fool she. Listen to me: when +a hoss bucks yuh off, what do yuh do? Give up, or climb aboard again?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's different." +</P> + +<P> +"'Tain't a bit different. Girl or hoss, a man shouldn't ever give up. +Y'asked a girl once, didn't yuh? Yuh said yuh did. Well, ask her +again. Land sakes alive, give her a chance to change her mind!" +</P> + +<P> +Good heavens! Did Mrs. Burr mean Kate Saltoun? Impossible. But was +it impossible? Of late, the seemingly impossible had had an uncanny +habit of coming to pass. Loudon shivered. He was quite positive that +he did not love Kate. The longer he considered the matter the more +fully convinced he became that he did not wish to marry any one. Which +was natural. Bid a man fall in love with a girl and he will at once +begin to find fault with her. +</P> + +<P> +"She—she wouldn't have me," dissembled Loudon. "It's no use talkin', +ma'am, I'm what the fellah in the book calls a shore-enough blighted +being. It makes me feel terrible, ma'am, but yuh can't do nothin'. +Nobody can. I just got to bear it, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +He sighed enormously, but there was a twinkle in the gray eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're laughin'!" exclaimed Mrs. Burr, severely. "I'd like to shake +yuh, I would. It ain't for nothin' that man an' mule begin with the +same letter. Stubborn! My land o' livin', a girl's feelin's ain't +nothin' to yuh! What do you care, yuh great big good-for-nothin' +lummox!" +</P> + +<P> +"Now, ma'am," chided Loudon, grinning, "yo're gettin' real excited." +</P> + +<P> +"Who wouldn't? Here I am——" +</P> + +<P> +"Say," interrupted Loudon, "when it comes to that, here I am gettin' +fifty-five dollars a month. However can I get married, even if +anybody'd have me, with silk dresses at five dollars a yard?" +</P> + +<P> +"Silk dresses! What d'yuh mean by that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, ma'am, I wouldn't let my wife wear nothin' but silk dresses +mornin', noon, an' night. Nothin' would be too good for my wife. So +yuh see how it is. I dassent think o' marriage." +</P> + +<P> +Words failed Mrs. Burr. It was probably the first time that they had +failed her. She gasped, gasped again, then stamped to the stove and +furiously rattled the frying-pan. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she suddenly remarked, "wherever can that girl o' mine be? +Gallivantin' 'round with that O'Leary feller just when I want her to go +to the store. Now look here, Tom, you set right still till I come +back, do yuh hear? No projeckin' 'round on that ankle. I'll get Ben +to put yuh to bed after supper." +</P> + +<P> +"He needn't bother," said Loudon, hastily. "I can get into bed my own +self. I ain't a invalid." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're just what I say yuh are. If yuh make any fuss I'll put yuh to +bed myself. So you watch out." +</P> + +<P> +The masterful lady departed. Loudon, undisturbed by her threat, gazed +after her with admiration. +</P> + +<P> +"She's a whizzer," he said under his breath. "Got a heart like all +outdoors. But that ankle ain't as bad as she makes out. Bet I can hop +to the door an' back just as easy." +</P> + +<P> +So, because he had been forbidden to budge, Loudon hoisted himself out +of the chair, balanced on one leg, and hopped across the room. Holding +himself upright by the door-jambs he peered out cautiously. He wished +to assure himself that Mrs. Burr was well on her way to the store +before proceeding farther on his travels around the kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Burr was not in sight. Surely she could not have reached the +corner so soon. Vaguely disturbed, Loudon kept one eye cocked down the +street. His vigilance was rewarded by the emergence from the Mace +doorway of both Mrs. Burr and Kate Saltoun. Mrs. Burr went on toward +Main Street. Kate turned in his direction. +</P> + +<P> +"Good Lord!" gurgled Loudon, despairingly. "She's a-comin' here!" +</P> + +<P> +In a panic he turned, slipped, overbalanced, and his whole weight +ground down hard on his sprained ankle. The most excruciating pain +shot through his whole being. Then he toppled down in a dead faint. +</P> + +<P> +When he recovered consciousness Kate's arm was around his shoulders, +and Kate's voice was saying, "Drink this." Through a mist he saw Kate's +face and her dark eyes with a pucker of worry between them. +</P> + +<P> +"Drink this," repeated Kate, and Loudon drank from the glass she held +to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +The whisky cleared away the mist and injected new life into his veins. +Ashamed of his weakness, he muttered hasty thanks, and essayed to rise. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't move!" Kate commanded, sharply. "Hold still till I pull that +chair over here." +</P> + +<P> +"I can get up all right, Kate. I ain't hurt." +</P> + +<P> +"No, of course not. You've just shown how much you aren't hurt. Do as +I say." +</P> + +<P> +Kate pulled the chair toward her and was helping Loudon into it when +Mrs. Burr entered. That she had gone to the store was doubtful. At +least, she was empty-handed. +</P> + +<P> +"My land!" exclaimed Mrs. Burr, running to Kate's assistance. "What's +the matter? Tom, did yuh get up after I told yuh not to?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon mumbled unintelligibly. +</P> + +<P> +"I found him in a dead faint on the floor," was the illumining remark +of Kate. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yuh did, did yuh? I might 'a' knowed it! Can't do nothin' yo're +told, can yuh, Tom? I'll bet yuh twisted that ankle again! My +fathers, yuh make me tired! Bet yuh it's all swelled up now worse'n +ever. Lemme look." +</P> + +<P> +Expertly Mrs. Burr stripped the wrappings from Loudon's ankle. +</P> + +<P> +"Thought so!" she grunted, and took the dishpan from its hook. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it very bad?" queried Kate. +</P> + +<P> +"Not near so bad as he's tryin' to make it with his hoppin' 'round. +Land alive! He'll be lucky if it ain't lame the rest of his life. +Now, Tom, I'm goin' to use hotter water'n I did before. Yuh deserve to +have that foot good an' scalded, yuh do. I'll get the swellin' down, +too, if I have to parboil yuh. Don't yuh make no mistake about that. +Say, I don't see how steppin' on this here could 'a' made yuh faint, +unless—— Say, Tom, when did yuh eat last?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, ma'am, I don't—well, I guess it was yesterday some time." +</P> + +<P> +Kate uttered a soft exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"Yesterday some time!" cried Mrs. Burr, hurrying to the stove. +"Yesterday mornin' too, I'll bet. I might 'a' knowed it. You fellers +didn't take much grub with yuh when yuh went north. An' I never +thought to ask when yuh et last. A sprained ankle, a fifty-mile ride, +an' nothin' to eat on top of it. No wonder yuh fainted. Yuh poor +feller. An' here I been a-callin' yuh all kinds o' names. We won't +wait for Dorothy. I'll have somethin' to eat for yuh in a minute." +</P> + +<P> +"No hurry, ma'am," remarked Loudon. "I ain't a bit hungry." +</P> + +<P> +"Kate," said Mrs. Burr, paying him no attention, "cut some bread, will +yuh, an' start feedin' him. The butter's yonder." +</P> + +<P> +Fifteen minutes later Loudon was sitting at the table devouring steak +and potatoes. He was hungry. With great satisfaction Mrs. Burr +watched him tuck away the food. +</P> + +<P> +"There," she announced, filling his coffee cup for the second time, "I +guess that'll hold yuh for awhile. I'll just set the coffeepot back on +the stove an' Kate can give yuh some more when yuh want it. I'm goin' +down street a minute." +</P> + +<P> +When Mrs. Burr had gone Kate sat down opposite Loudon and locked her +fingers under her chin. Loudon steadfastly kept his eyes glued to his +plate. Confound the girl! Why must she pursue him in this brazen +fashion? Couldn't she realize—but apparently she realized nothing +save the importance of her own desires. Man-like, Loudon hardened his +heart. Curiously enough, the strictly impersonal tone of Kate's +opening remark gave him a distinct feeling of annoyance. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't Mrs. Burr great?" said Kate. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," mumbled Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"And Dorothy, too. I like her an awful lot. She came over to Lil's +this morning, and we sewed and gossiped, and had a perfectly lovely +time. She—Dorothy, I mean—showed me a new stitch—but, of course, +you aren't interested in embroidery. Tell me, how do you like the new +job?" +</P> + +<P> +"All right." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad. Is Mr. Mackenzie a good boss?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fine. Couldn't beat him—that is—er—yore dad always treated me +white." +</P> + +<P> +"I know," nodded Kate, her black eyes twinkling. "Don't apologize. I +quarrel with Dad myself sometimes. Tom," she added, her expression +sobering, "have you had any news from Farewell lately?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't heard a word since I left. Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"I received a letter from Dad to-day. He says there's a warrant for +rustling out for you." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good hearin'," said Loudon, cheerfully. "I'm one popular +jigger in the Lazy River country. They just can't get along without +me, can they?" +</P> + +<P> +"Apparently not. Dad told me to tell you. Listen, it isn't generally +known in Farewell or anywhere else in Fort Creek County, for that +matter, that a warrant is out for you. It was issued by Judge Allison +in Marysville. Block's keeping it as dark as possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Goin' to spring it on me when I ain't lookin', I suppose. He won't +try fetchin' any warrant up here, that's a cinch." +</P> + +<P> +"Hardly. I always hated that man." +</P> + +<P> +"I never liked him a whole lot, neither. Say, how did yore dad hear +about that warrant?" +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't say, but I imagine somebody in Marysville wrote him. He has +friends there, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't know, but I'm shore glad he has. Next time yuh write yuh +might thank yore dad for me." +</P> + +<P> +"I will, of course. I'm awfully glad you're safe up here, Tom. All +the straight people in the Lazy River country know you didn't have any +hand in the branding of those Crossed Dumbbell cattle, but that doesn't +help much when Block and his friends are in the majority." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're right, it don't; but I got to go to Farewell anyway in about +five weeks." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" Kate's eyes widened with something very like fear. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," nodded Loudon. "I got a little business to attend to that +can't be put off." +</P> + +<P> +"Put it off," begged Kate, stretching out a pleading hand. "Put it +off, Tom. You mustn't—you can't go back to Farewell now. Some day +everything will be all right again, and then you can go back. But not +now, Tom. Your life is much more important than any silly business. +Please wait." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't be did," said Loudon with finality. "I just got to go, an' +that's all there is to it." +</P> + +<P> +"But, Tom," cried Kate, "don't you understand? They'll—they'll h-hang +you." +</P> + +<P> +"They'll have to catch me first. 'Tain't legal otherwise." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how can you make fun? I could cry. I could, indeed. I will, +too, in a minute—only, you are fooling, aren't you? You don't really +intend to go back." +</P> + +<P> +"I never fool. Dunno how. I'm goin' back, an' if Farewell gets gay, +why, I'll just naturally rope that village o' tinhorns an' scatter it +over a full section o' land. That'll cure 'em o' gettin' out warrants +for peaceable folks, won't it now?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A HIDDEN TRAIL +</H4> + +<P> +A pounding at his door woke Loudon in the morning. +</P> + +<P> +"'Lo," he called, sleepily. +</P> + +<P> +"Time for yore dinner!" shouted Mrs. Burr through the panels. "It's +noon." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll get right up." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh will not. Yuh'll stay right where yuh are. I'm comin' in." +</P> + +<P> +She entered, bearing a basin and towels. +</P> + +<P> +"There," she said, setting the basin on the chair at the bedside. +"There, yuh can wash yore own face. Hungry?" +</P> + +<P> +"Some," he sputtered through streaming water. +</P> + +<P> +"That's good. I got a nice steak an' 'taters an' gravy an' hot bread, +an' there's a friend wants to see yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Who?" +</P> + +<P> +"Swing Tunstall. He just rode in from the Flyin' M. I'm goin' out +there this afternoon. Dunno how long I'll be gone. But yuh'll be all +right. I done asked Lil Mace to come over here an' live while I'm +away. Lil an' Kate an' Dorothy'll look after yuh. An' mind yuh, do +what they tell yuh, or I'll make it hot for yuh when I come back." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter? Anythin' happened at the ranch?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, nothin' much—over a hundred head o' hosses run off, an' Scotty's +got two bullets in him." +</P> + +<P> +"What!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep. That's why I'm goin' out. Got to look after Scotty. Swing says +he ain't hurt bad, an' Scotty is tougher'n back-leather, but still +there'd ought to be a woman there, so I'm elected. No, I can't give +yuh no details. Ain't got time. Swing will tell yuh all he knows. +Good-bye, an' don't forget what I said 'bout mindin' them three girls, +Tom." +</P> + +<P> +She picked up the basin and hastened from the room, leaving the door +open. Through the doorway Loudon could see a section of the kitchen +and Kate and Dorothy busy at the stove. But the objects in view did +not register any impressions on his shocked brain. Scotty shot! A +hundred horses stolen! Here was a grim matter indeed, one requiring +instant action, and he was laid up with a sprained ankle! Very +arbitrary ladies, the three Fates. Heartily, but under his breath, for +Dorothy was coming, Loudon cursed his luck. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, invalid," smiled Dorothy, "here's your dinner. Shall I feed +you, or perhaps you'd prefer Mrs. Mace or Kate? How about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I only sprained my ankle," said Loudon, red to the ears. +</P> + +<P> +He was wearing one of the Captain's nightgowns. The middle-aged +scrutiny of the mother had not quickened him to the fact that the +garment was much too small for him, but under the eyes of the daughter +he became burningly self-conscious. The knowledge that Scotty had +advised Dorothy to fall in love with him did not lessen the agony of +the moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll put it on this chair," said tactful Dorothy, partly fathoming the +cause of Loudon's distress. "Would you like to see Mr. Tunstall?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore I would. I didn't know he was here at the house." +</P> + +<P> +"He's camping on the doorstep. I'll send him in. Isn't it awful about +Scotty Mackenzie? And all those horses, too. Nothing as bad as this +ever happened in Sunset County before." +</P> + +<P> +"It won't happen again. Not right away, yuh can bet on that." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy withdrew, and Swing Tunstall entered. The bristle-haired young +man shut the door, grinned toothfully at Loudon, and sat down +cross-legged on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy, Swing," said Loudon, "why ain't yuh chasin' the hoss thieves?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Cause," replied Tunstall, "Doubleday sent me in to tell the sheriff +an' get a doc for Scotty. The doc's on his way, an' the sheriff's due +in to-day from Rocket. All the outfit, 'cept Doubleday an' Giant +Morton, are cavortin' over the hills an' far away a-sniffin' to pick up +the trail." +</P> + +<P> +"When did it happen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, as near as we could make out, after siftin' out Scotty's +cuss-words an' gettin' down to hard-rock, Scotty was shot 'bout eight +or nine o'clock in the evenin'." +</P> + +<P> +"How?" +</P> + +<P> +"Says he heard a racket in the stallion corral. No more'n he slips out +of the office when he's plugged twice—once in the left leg, an' a deep +graze on his head. The head shot is what knocked him out. He said he +didn't come to till after midnight. He drug himself into the office +an' tied himself up the best he could an' lived offen airtights till we +pulled in. He didn't even know any hosses had been run off till after +we got back." +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose he was shot the evenin' of the dance?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore. Oh, ain't it lovely? While we're chasin' imaginary +feather-dusters, the Flyin' M hosses are vanishin'. It shore was a +slick trick. The gent that thought up that plan for getting' every +two-legged man in the country out of the way is a wizard. I'd admire +to see him, I would. I'll bet he's all head." +</P> + +<P> +"He ain't exactly a fool," admitted Loudon, thinking of Sam Blakely. +</P> + +<P> +Certainly the manner in which the horse-stealing had been carried out +bore the ear-marks of 88 methods. +</P> + +<P> +"They had two days' start," observed Swing Tunstall. "Time to ride to +Old Mexico almost." +</P> + +<P> +"Telescope's a good tracker," said Loudon, and began to eat his dinner. +</P> + +<P> +"None better. But even Telescope can't do wonders. By the trail the +hoss-band headed east. Them hosses was over a hundred, maybe a hundred +an' fifty, miles away by the time our outfit got started. In a hundred +an' fifty miles o' country yuh'll find lots o' hard ground an' maybe a +rainstorm." +</P> + +<P> +"Rain ain't none likely at this time o' year." +</P> + +<P> +"It ain't likely, but hoss thieves with a two-day start are in luck at +the go-off. An' luck comes in bunches. If they's any rain wanderin' +'round foot-free an' fancy-loose these gents will get it. An' then +where's Telescope an' his trackin'?" +</P> + +<P> +When Tunstall had departed in search of diversion and to buy +cartridges, Loudon locked his hands behind his head and stared at the +ceiling. In his mind he turned over the events of the past few days. +He was sure that Sam Blakely and the 88 outfit were the prime movers in +the shooting of Scotty and the stealing of Scotty's horses. +</P> + +<P> +Yet, save that the exceeding cleverness of procedure smacked of +Blakely, there were no grounds for suspecting the 88 men. Blakely and +his gang were not the only cunning horse thieves in the territory. +There were dozens of others free and unhung. Nevertheless, Loudon's +instinct fastened the guilt on the 88. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm shore," he muttered, "certain shore. But there ain't nothin' to +go by. Not a thing. An' yuh can't prove nothin' lyin' on yore back +with a bumped ankle." +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later the entrance of Kate Saltoun interrupted his gloomy +reflections. +</P> + +<P> +"Feeling worse, Tom?" she inquired, her expression anxious. +</P> + +<P> +"Me? Oh, not a little bit. I feel just like a flock o' birds with +yaller wings." +</P> + +<P> +"You needn't be snippy. I know how your ankle must pain you, but——" +</P> + +<P> +"It ain't the ankle, Kate. That feels fine, only I know I can't stand +on it. It's what I'm thinkin' about. I was wonderin' 'bout Scotty an' +all." +</P> + +<P> +"If I sit with you, would—would you like to talk?" said she with a +hesitant smile, the slow red mounting to her cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"If it wouldn't bother yuh too much." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be right back." +</P> + +<P> +Kate took away the dishes, and Loudon, who had pulled the blankets up +to his chin at her entry, snuggled deeper into the bed and wished +himself elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +"What else could I say?" he asked himself, dismally, "Lord A'mighty, I +wish she'd keep away from me." +</P> + +<P> +Kate returned quickly, carried the chair to the foot of the bed, and +sat down. She crossed one leg over the other and clasped her hands in +her lap. Silence ensued for a brief space of time. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Kate, leadingly. +</P> + +<P> +"I was just a-wonderin' about this hoss deal," began Loudon. "I +think——" +</P> + +<P> +"I know what you intended saying," Kate observed, calmly. "You see in +it the fine Italian hand of Blakely." +</P> + +<P> +"You always could talk high, wide, and handsome," said Loudon, +admiringly. "How djuh guess it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know Sam Blakely. That's enough. He'd hesitate at nothing, no +matter how vile or wicked it might be. Oh, don't look so eager. I +can't prove it. It's my instinct, that's all. I hate him—hate +him—hate him!" +</P> + +<P> +Kate covered her face with her hands. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll hear yuh in the kitchen," cautioned Loudon in a whisper. +</P> + +<P> +Kate lowered her hands and looked at him wearily. When she spoke her +voice was perfectly composed. +</P> + +<P> +"No, they won't. Dorothy's over at Lil's. Don't worry, though. I +sha'n't lose control of myself. Something came over me then. I won't +do it again." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you think like I do, but I can't prove nothin', neither. Never +have been able to prove nothin' against the 88. Say, does yore dad +still believe like he used to about them cows?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Crossed——" +</P> + +<P> +"No, <I>his</I> cows. Them cows that disappeared now an' then." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe he does. He never talks much, you know, and it's sometimes +hard for me to tell what he thinks. But I don't believe he suspects +the 88. He was very angry when I broke the engagement. I wouldn't +give him my reason, and he stormed and stamped around, and quarrelled +with me all the time. That's partly why I came up here to visit Lil +Mace." +</P> + +<P> +"If we could only wake up Fort Creek County—but them fellahs, most of +'em, are for the 88, an' them that ain't have to take it out in +thinkin' a lot. Now if we could cinch this hoss-stealin' on the 88 it +would help a lot down in Fort Creek County. The honest folks down +there would have somethin' to go on, an' they'd paint for war +immediate, an' with the boys from up here it would be a cinch. We'd go +over the 88 outfit like a landslide. An' here I am throwed an' +hog-tied. Say——" Loudon's mouth opened wide. His eyes shone. In +his excitement he raised himself on his elbow—"I got it! I got it!" +</P> + +<P> +"What?" Kate leaned toward him, lips parted. +</P> + +<P> +"It ain't possible that dance was just luck," said Loudon, rapidly. +"It couldn't just 'a' happened all hunky-dory so that fellah from +Hatchet Creek would find all the boys in town. Not by a jugful it +couldn't! It was set for that night a-purpose. Now who started the +ball a-rollin' for that dance?" +</P> + +<P> +He gazed triumphantly at Kate. Her eyes sparkled. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll try and find out for you," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy, folks?" +</P> + +<P> +It was Pete O'Leary who spoke, and he was standing beside the kitchen +table looking in on them. Loudon's mouth tightened. How much of their +conversation had O'Leary heard? +</P> + +<P> +"Good afternoon, Mr. O'Leary," said Kate, rising and advancing to the +doorway. "Looking for Dorothy, aren't you? Oh, I know you are. +You'll find her down at Mrs. Mace's.... Yes, it's a beautiful day, +beautiful. Good afternoon, Mr. O'Leary, good afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +In the face of this Pete O'Leary departed. Kate went into the kitchen. +In a few minutes she returned, laughing. +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't go into Lil's," she said. "He went on toward Main Street. +I watched him. He's a nervy individual. Dorothy doesn't like him, and +I don't, either." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if he did come to see Dorothy, or——" +</P> + +<P> +"He came to see me." +</P> + +<P> +"You!" Loudon's surprise was patent. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, isn't it charming? Turned him out in quick fashion, didn't I? +The pest! Dorothy said he clung to her like glue till I came. He's +deserted her for me ever since the dance. She baked me a cake. Said +it was a reward. She'd never been able to get rid of him. But I'm +afraid Dorothy's too tender-hearted. I don't mind being rude. Why, +what's the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was just a-wonderin' how much that fellah heard?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, nothing," said Kate, carelessly. "We weren't talking loudly, were +we? Does it make any difference?" +</P> + +<P> +"It shore does. O'Leary's in with the 88, or I'm a Dutchman." +</P> + +<P> +"He is!" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," Loudon nodded. "I got proof o' that, anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"Heavens! If he heard what we were saying he'll warn Blakely and the +rest. And we can't stop him! We can't stop him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet we can't. I can't, special." +</P> + +<P> +Kate stared steadily at Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom," said she, after a silence, "if Pete O'Leary is Blakely's friend +then Pete O'Leary got up that dance." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm bright!" groaned Loudon. "I must be losin' my mind. There it +was, plain as the brand on a hoss, an' I never seen it. O' course it +was him." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll soon find out," Kate exclaimed, briskly. "I'll ask Lil and +Dorothy and Mrs. Ragsdale and Mrs. Dan Smith. They'll know. Do you +mind being left alone for a while?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a bit—I mean——" +</P> + +<P> +"Now never mind. I know perfectly well what you mean. Here, I'll put +your gun where you can reach it. If you want anything, shoot." +</P> + +<P> +She plumped his pillow, patted and pulled the blankets to smoothness, +and was off. +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't it amazin'?" marvelled Loudon. "Now if anybody had told me that +I could talk friendly again with Kate Saltoun, I'd 'a' called him a +liar. I shore would." +</P> + +<P> +Ten minutes later plump Mrs. Mace entered and interrupted a flow of +very bitter reflections on Pete O'Leary. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Mister Man, how's the ankle?" inquired Mrs. Mace, brightly. +"Now don't look so glum. Kate'll be back before a great while." +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't thinkin' o' her," was Loudon's ungallant retort. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh'd ought to. I guess yuh was, too. Yuh needn't be bashful with +me. I'm Kate's best friend. An' I want to tell you right now I'm +awful glad the pair of yuh got over yore mad. It don't pay to quarrel. +I never do, not even when Jim Mace comes in all mud without wipin' his +feet. Lord, what trials you men are! I don't really know how we poor +women get along sometimes, I don't indeed. Want a drink o' water? Yuh +can't have nothin' else. Mis' Burr said yuh couldn't." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I guess that goes as it lays. But I ain't thirsty, an' I don't +need nothin'. Honest." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yuh do," contradicted Mrs. Mace, gazing critically at him. "Yuh +need yore hair brushed. It's all mussed, an' invalids should look +neat. Don't start in to sputter. I sha'n't brush yore hair, but I'll +tell Kate she's no great shakes for a nurse. Now I think of it, Kate's +hair was mussed up some, too. H'm-m-m. What yuh gettin' red about? +No call to blush that I can see. Oh, you men!" +</P> + +<P> +With a significant wink Mrs. Mace whisked kittenishly into the kitchen. +Loudon could hear her lifting stove-lids. He perspired freely. The +lady's weighty bantering had raised his temperature. +</P> + +<P> +What a world! Scotty urged him to make love to Dorothy. Mrs. Burr +advised him to set matters right with Kate. While Mrs. Mace had +everything settled. Between the three of them and his other troubles +he believed he would go mad. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +KATE IS HELPFUL +</H4> + +<P> +At six o'clock Kate returned. +</P> + +<P> +"It took me longer than I expected," she whispered, Dorothy and Mrs. +Mace being in the kitchen. "It's just as we thought. Our friend, Mr. +O'Leary, was back of the dance. He suggested it to Mrs. Ragsdale, and +she got it up. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe O'Leary heard any of our conversation. He met me down +street and smirked and grinned and tried to invite himself up to see me +to-night. But I settled him. I said I'd be busy for the next two +weeks. Look here, Tom, don't look so worried. If he heard what we +said, don't you suppose he'd leave town immediately? Of course he +would. He wouldn't dare stay." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't so shore about that. He's no fool, Pete O'Leary ain't. He +knows there ain't no real evidence against him. We only got +suspicions, that's all. Enough for us, all right, but nothin' like +enough to land him. No, he wouldn't vamoose right now. That'd give +him away. He'll stay an' bluff it through as long as he can. Then, +again, if he pulls out he ain't no good to the 88 no more. He's needed +up here to let 'em know how things are pannin' out. Say, yuh didn't +let them ladies suspicion what yuh was after, did yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course not. I have a little sense. I made my inquiries quite +casually in the course of conversation. Don't fret, they won't have a +thing to gossip about." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good. I might 'a' knowed yuh'd be careful." +</P> + +<P> +With a start he realized that he was commending her, actually +commending the girl who had once informed him in withering accents that +she would never marry an ignorant puncher. Here she was pathetically +anxious to execute his every wish. Apparently she had stopped +flirting, too. +</P> + +<P> +As she flitted between his room and the kitchen he looked at her out of +amazed eyes. Measuring her by her one-time frivolous and coquettish +actions, the new Kate was rather astonishing. Man-like, Loudon began +to suspect some trap. The lady was too good to be true. +</P> + +<P> +"Bet she's tollin' me on," he told himself. "I'll ask her again, an' +then pop'll go the weasel. No, sirree, I know when I'm well off. As a +friend, so long as she acts thisaway, she's ace-high, but I'll bet +after marriage she'd develop tempers an' things like that Sue Shimmers +girl Scotty told me about. Shore she would. Not a doubt of it. +Yessir, single cussedness for Tom Loudon from now on henceforward. +I'll gamble an' go the limit, it's got double blessedness backed clean +off the table." +</P> + +<P> +Lying in bed was not doing Tom Loudon a bit of good. He was fast +becoming priggishly cynical. Which attitude of mind may have been +natural, but was certainly abominably ungallant. +</P> + +<P> +Long after the others in the house were asleep Loudon lay awake. His +brain was busy fashioning plans for the undoing of the 88 outfit. It +suddenly struck him that the guileful O'Leary undoubtedly wrote +letters. A knowledge of the addresses on those letters was of +paramount importance. It would wonderfully simplify matters. +</P> + +<P> +The storekeeper, Ragsdale, was the Bend postmaster. Loudon knew that +Ragsdale was not given to idle chatter. He resolved to take Ragsdale +into his confidence. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning after breakfast, Kate, first making sure that Mrs. Mace +and Dorothy were out of earshot, stooped over the bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom," she said, "don't you think I'd better find out whether O'Leary +writes any letters and, if he does, to whom he writes them?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stared at her in astonishment. +</P> + +<P> +"Huh—how did yuh think o' that?" he blurted out. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know. It came to me last night. It's a good idea, don't you +think?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, it's a good idea. I was thinkin' the same thing myself. But +don't yuh bother. I'll find out soon's I'm able to get around." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be silly. You'll be on your back ten days at the least. +O'Leary may write several in the meantime, and the sooner we know about +it the better. Now I can find out very easily. Mrs. Ragsdale, the +prying soul, reads the addresses on every letter coming in or going +out. None ever escapes her eagle eye. And she's a great gossip. I've +only seen her half-a-dozen times, but nevertheless she's managed to +give me detailed histories of the private lives of most of the +inhabitants. She enjoys talking to me because I never interrupt, so +you see how simple it will be." +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't like to use you thisaway," objected Loudon. "Yuh've done +enough, too much, as it is." +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense! It will be great fun turning Mrs. Ragsdale's tattlings into +useful information. Tattle! Why, she even told me how much you +approved of me at the dance. According to her story you came and +shouted your opinion into her ear. Did you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I knowed it!" groaned Loudon. "I knowed she'd tell! I only said——" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind getting red. I didn't mind a bit. I hoped you did like +me. I wanted you to." +</P> + +<P> +Here was thin ice. Loudon, pink about the ears, squirmed inwardly. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I," he stuttered, then, with a rush, "yo're doin' too much, I tell +yuh. I'll see about these letters when I get up." +</P> + +<P> +"No, you won't. I want to, and I'm going to. It's settled and you +needn't argue. I'll go to the postoffice right away. After dinner +I'll tell you all about it." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a minute!" cried Loudon, but Kate was gone. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon had little time to reflect on feminine wilfulness, for Mrs. Mace +insisted on spending the morning with him. Dorothy helped her spend +it. The buzz of their chatter was lulling. Loudon dozed off and slept +till Mrs. Mace awakened him at noon. +</P> + +<P> +"Nice way to treat two ladies," sniffed Mrs. Mace. "Nice way, I must +say. Here we come in to entertain yuh while Kate's away and yuh fall +asleep, so yuh do. Bet yuh wouldn't have fell asleep if Kate had been +here. No, I guess not. You'd have been chipper enough—grinnin' and +smilin' all over yore face. But yuh can't even be polite to Dorothy +and me." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, ma'am, I——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, never mind makin' excuses. We understand. It's all right. +Say"—Mrs. Mace stooped down and guarded one side of her mouth with her +hand—"say, when's the weddin' comin' off?" +</P> + +<P> +"Weddin'? What weddin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, I wonder what weddin'. I do, indeed. Well, of course yuh +don't have to tell if yuh don't want to. I'll ask Kate. Dorothy"—she +straightened and called over her shoulder—"you can bring in Mr. +Loudon's dinner. He's decided to stay awake long enough to eat it." +</P> + +<P> +He ate his dinner alone, but he did not enjoy it. For, in the kitchen, +Dorothy and Mrs. Mace with painful thoroughness discussed all the +weddings they had ever seen and made divers thinly veiled remarks +concerning a certain marriage that would probably take place in the +fall. +</P> + +<P> +"Say," called Loudon, when he could endure their chatter no longer, +"say, would yuh mind closin' that door? I got a headache." +</P> + +<P> +Silence in the kitchen for a brief space of time. Then, in a small +demure voice, Mrs. Mace said: +</P> + +<P> +"What was that? I didn't quite catch it." +</P> + +<P> +With elaborate politeness Loudon repeated his request. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no," said Mrs. Mace, "the door must be left open. Mis' Burr said +so. A sick-room needs lots of fresh air. I wouldn't dare close the +door. Mis' Burr wouldn't like it." +</P> + +<P> +"She'd scalp us if we closed it during the day," observed Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +The wretched Loudon could almost see the wink which accompanied this +statement. +</P> + +<P> +"But he's got a headache," said Mrs. Mace. "We'd ought to do somethin' +for that. Can't allow him to have a headache, Dorothy. You get the +towels an' I'll get some cold water. We'll bathe his head for him. +That'll fix him up." +</P> + +<P> +"It ain't as bad as all that," denied Loudon. "It's goin' away +already. An' I don't want my head bathed nohow. An' I ain't goin' to +have it bathed, an' that's flat!" +</P> + +<P> +At this juncture Kate entered the kitchen, announcing that she was +starved. Dorothy and Mrs. Mace, both talking at once, asserted that +Loudon had a violent headache and would not allow them to alleviate his +suffering; that he had been a most troublesome patient and had kept +them busy attending to his manifold desires. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you believe 'em!" cried Loudon. "I ain't done a thing. They +been pesterin' me all mornin'. Won't let me sleep or nothin'." +</P> + +<P> +"There! Listen to him!" exclaimed Mrs. Mace. "We did our level best +to please, an' that's all the thanks we get. C'mon, Dorothy, let's go +over to my house. We ain't wanted now. Yore dinner's in the oven, +Kate. He's had his. Hope you'll have better luck managin' him than we +did. I'd sooner wrangle forty hosses than one sick man." +</P> + +<P> +The slam of the kitchen door put a period to her remarks. Kate entered +Loudon's room, a pucker of concern between her eyebrows. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you really a headache?" she inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I haven't. But they was botherin' me—oh, I dunno, makin' +fool remarks an' all like that. Say, did yuh find out anythin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not much of any value, I'm afraid. But you're the better judge of +that. Pete O'Leary writes to only one person—William Archer of +Marysville. O'Leary writes to him once a week usually, but for the +last month he's written twice a week, and this week he mailed four +letters to Marysville." +</P> + +<P> +"Archer—Archer," mused Loudon. "I can't think just now of anybody o' +that name in Marysville. But that town ain't such a great way from the +88 ranch house—not more'n thirty mile at the most. Archer, whoever he +is, could easy keep in touch with—with——" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't boggle so over that man's name. You don't hurt my feelings in +the least by mentioning Sam Blakely. Yes, he could keep in touch with +Blakely very easily. I learned, too, that O'Leary receives letters +about as frequently as he mails them. They are all in the same +handwriting, and they are all postmarked Marysville. One came for him +this morning. Mrs. Ragsdale let me see it, but the handwriting was +strange to me. If it had been Blakely's I'd have recognized it. I'll +keep in with Mrs. Ragsdale. I'll visit her every time a mail arrives." +</P> + +<P> +"No, it ain't necessary. It's enough to know he writes to Marysville. +First thing to do is see Archer, an' find out some of his habits. He's +the link between Pete O'Leary an' the 88, that's a cinch." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I really did learn something of value. I am glad. I was afraid +it wouldn't be worth a very great deal, and I do so want to help you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yuh shore have, Kate. Nobody could 'a' helped me any better. +But don't do no more. There ain't no reason why you should. It ain't +a woman's job anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you've said that before. I intend to help you all I can. I'm as +interested as you are in the ultimate crushing of the 88 outfit." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but——" +</P> + +<P> +"We won't discuss it, please. How does the ankle feel?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's comin' along fine. I want to get up right now." +</P> + +<P> +"Day after to-morrow you can get dressed if you like and sit out in the +kitchen for a while. Oh, I know how hard it is to lie in bed, but one +can't hurry a sprain. You have a lot of hard work ahead, and you must +be in shape to go through with it. Listen, how would it be if I wrote +to Mr. Richie of the Cross-in-a-box and asked him to find out about +this Archer man?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I'd rather manage that myself. I'll go to Marysville." +</P> + +<P> +"You can't! Why, the judge who issued that warrant for you lives +there! You insist on going to Farewell, and that's madness. But +visiting Marysville would be worse." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no, it wouldn't. Nobody knows me there. I was never in the place +in my life. It'll be a lot safer than Farewell." +</P> + +<P> +"B-but I'm afraid! I know something will happen to you! I know it! I +know it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothin'll happen," said Loudon, acutely conscious that the situation +was getting out of hand. +</P> + +<P> +Presently his worst fears were realized. Kate, genuine misery in her +dark eyes, stared at him silently. Her hands were gripped together so +that the knuckles showed white. Suddenly she turned side wise, flung +an elbow over the back of the chair and buried her face in her hands. +She began to cry softly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" she wailed, her shoulders shaking. "Oh, I love you so! I love +you so! And you don't care—you don't care a bit!" +</P> + +<P> +Sobs racked her whole body. She completely lost control of herself and +burst into a storm of passionate weeping. To Loudon it seemed that +this state of affairs endured for an age, but not more than five +minutes elapsed before Kate swayed to her feet and stumbled from the +room. She did not close the door, and Loudon could hear her muffled +gasps as she strove with her distress. +</P> + +<P> +At that moment it seemed to him that the girl who had called him an +ignorant puncher was a wraith of the dim and misty past. Certainly the +present Kate Saltoun was a different person. She no longer flirted, +she was plainly sorry for what she had done, and apparently she loved +him utterly. +</P> + +<P> +No man can remain unmoved while a beautiful woman weeps for love of +him. Loudon was moved. He was impelled to call to her, to tell her to +come to him. But he hesitated. He was not at all sure that his +feeling was any emotion other than pity. He had spent miserable weeks +schooling himself to forget his love and her. Now he did not know his +own mind, and he could not decide what to do. While he lay hesitating +he heard the scraping of a chair being pushed back, the sound of her +feet crossing the floor, and the slam of the kitchen door. +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later Mrs. Mace came in like a whirlwind. She halted in +the doorway and surveyed Loudon with unfriendly eyes. She opened her +mouth as if to speak, but closed it without uttering a word, flounced +back into the kitchen and shut his door. Almost immediately she opened +it. +</P> + +<P> +"Want anythin'?" she inquired, ungraciously. +</P> + +<P> +"No, thank yuh just the same," replied the mystified Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Mace closed the door without comment. It was not opened again +till Dorothy brought in his supper. She inquired politely after his +health, but he could see that she was displeased with him. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with everybody?" he asked. "What makes Mis' Mace +look at me like I was poison, an' what makes you look as if yuh had a +pain?" +</P> + +<P> +"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," said Dorothy, severely, and +marched out, her back stiff as a rifle-barrel. +</P> + +<P> +"I've done somethin' desperate, whatever it is," he said, addressing +the closed door. "I shore have. I might 'a' come to like that Dorothy +girl real well—sometime maybe. But I never will now, an' that's no +merry jest." +</P> + +<P> +Gloomily he ate his supper. When Dorothy entered to take away the +dishes he demanded to know why he should be ashamed of himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Because you should!" she snapped. "I'm not going to bandy words with +you! Just wait till mother comes home—just you wait!" +</P> + +<P> +After which ominous utterance she departed. Loudon scratched his head +and thought long and deeply. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I'd like to know what I've done," he mused. "Mis' Mace don't like +me a little bit, an' that Dorothy girl talks an' acts like I'd poisoned +a well or scalped a dozen babies. It's one too many for me. But I'll +know about it when Mis' Burr gets home, will I? That's fine, that is. +I'll bet she'll explain till the cows come home. Why didn't I go to +that hotel? I will as soon's I'm able. This house ain't no place for +a peace-lovin' man." +</P> + +<P> +He was rather relieved that Kate no longer came near him. It saved +trouble. He did not quite know what he would say to Kate at their next +meeting. What could he say? What, indeed? He pondered the question +till he fell asleep, having arrived at no conclusion. +</P> + +<P> +Next morning Jim Mace came to see him. Loudon besought Jim to help him +move to the hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" said the surprised Jim. "Don't my wife an' +Dorothy treat yuh right?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore they do, but I don't want to bother 'em no more. I'll be better +off where I can cuss when I feel like it." +</P> + +<P> +"Mis' Burr won't like it none, yore goin' off thisaway." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't help that—I want to go." +</P> + +<P> +"An' my wife won't like it, neither. Lordy, Tom, yuh don't know my +wife. She'd hit the ceilin' if I was to tote yuh down to the hotel." +</P> + +<P> +"Say," exclaimed Loudon, "can't a married man do nothin' without askin' +his wife?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not if he knows what's healthy," replied Jim Mace, warmly. "I tell +yuh, Tom, yuh'll jump through a hoop if yore wife says so. Oh, yuh can +laugh all yo're a mind to. Wait till yo're married, an' yuh'll see +what I mean." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll wait, yuh can gamble on that. Will yuh help me or do I have to +walk there on my hands?" +</P> + +<P> +"I won't help yuh a step. Yuh don't know what yo're askin', Tom. +Honest, I'm sorry, but I wouldn't dare help yuh without Lil said I +could. Fix it up with her an' I will." +</P> + +<P> +When Jim had gone Loudon swore soulfully, and thought with amazement of +the manner in which Jim was under his wife's thumb. If that was the +effect of marriage upon a man he wanted none of it. He had no desire +to be tied to any one's apron-strings. He wished to be able to call +his soul his own. Marriage—bah! +</P> + +<P> +"I want my clothes," he announced to Mrs. Mace at noon. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yuh do, do yuh?" cried the lady. "Well, yuh can just want, so yuh +can! Yuh won't get 'em, an' that's flat! An' Jim Mace nor nobody else +ain't goin' to help yuh down to that hotel. Yo're a-goin' to stick +right here. Jim told me yuh wanted to go, an' what I told him was +a-plenty. Here yuh stay till yuh go back to the ranch." +</P> + +<P> +"But I want to get up. I'm gettin' plumb weary o' stayin' in bed." +</P> + +<P> +"It won't hurt yuh a bit. You'll have lots o' time to think over yore +sins." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll get up anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"You just try it! I'd shore admire to see yuh try it! You ain't goin' +to play any fool tricks with that ankle if I have to get Jim an' a few +o' the boys to hogtie yuh. Tell yuh what I will do. To-morrow, if +you'll give me yore word not to leave the house till Mis' Burr or I say +you can, I'll give yuh yore clothes an' you can sit in the kitchen." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I'll have to," grumbled Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"You shore will if yuh want to get up," stated the uncompromising lady. +</P> + +<P> +"All right. I give yuh my word. Lemme get up now. The ankle feels +fine." +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow, to-morrow—not one second sooner." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MRS. BURR RELIEVES HER MIND +</H4> + +<P> +Loudon, sitting comfortably in a big chair, his lame ankle supported on +an upturned cracker-box, gazed at the world without through the frame +of the kitchen doorway. Leaving his bed had raised his spirits +appreciably. He rolled and smoked cigarettes and practised the +road-agent's spin in pleasant anticipation of the day when he would +ride away on his occasions. +</P> + +<P> +He wondered what luck Telescope and the boys were having. Since Swing +Tunstall's visit no news had come from the Flying M. Humanly, if +selfishly, he hoped that the trailing would meet with no success till +he was able to take a hand. His altruism was not proof against his +exceedingly lively desire to share in the downfall of the 88 outfit. +</P> + +<P> +He essayed to draw Mrs. Mace and Dorothy into conversation, but both +ladies were grumpy, and he gave it up in disgust. He found himself +listening for Kate's footstep. Awkward as their meeting undoubtedly +would be, his dread of it was wearing off. +</P> + +<P> +But Kate Saltoun did not appear. Loudon was too stubborn to make +inquiries, and Mrs. Mace and Dorothy vouchsafed no information. In +fact, save to squabble with him, they rarely opened their mouths in his +presence. +</P> + +<P> +A week later Loudon, a home-made crutch under his armpit, was able to +hobble about a little. Within two weeks he discarded the crutch and, +having obtained permission from Mrs. Mace, limped to the corral and +overhauled his saddle. That afternoon Mrs. Burr returned. Loudon saw +her first and crab-footed to the other side of the corral. The precise +nature of his sin was not clear to him, but Dorothy's words had been +disquieting. And now "mother" was home. +</P> + +<P> +Like a disobedient small boy Loudon wished to put off the interview as +long as possible. But there was no escape for him. Mrs. Burr marched +out to the corral and cornered him. +</P> + +<P> +"How's Scotty?" inquired Loudon, affecting an ease of manner he was far +from feeling. +</P> + +<P> +"Scotty's doin' very well," said Mrs. Burr, eying him grimly. "He +don't need me no more. That's why I'm here. Young man, I ain't +pleased with yuh. I ain't a bit pleased with yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, ma'am, I dunno what yuh mean." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh will before I'm through. Gimme that saddle-blanket to set on. +There! Now, Mister Man, I'm goin' to talk to yuh like I was yore +mother, an' I expect yuh to take it that way." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, ma'am, fly at it. I'm a-listenin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Do yuh remember a certain evenin' down at the Bar S when yuh'd just +rid in from Farewell with the mail an' some ribbon for Kate Saltoun?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Kate asked yuh to come out on the porch, an' yuh didn't come. +Yes, Sam Blakely was there. Yore not comin' at her invite riled Kate. +She allowed yuh didn't give a hoot for her, an' when Blakely proposed +she took him. She was hoppin' mad with you, an' she was bound to teach +yuh a lesson. +</P> + +<P> +"No, don't interrupt. Wait till I'm through, an' yuh can talk all +yo're a mind to. Before that evenin' it'd been nip an' tuck between +you an' Sam Blakely. An' you was slow. My fathers! you was slow about +speakin' yore little piece! Tom, a girl don't like for a man to keep +his mouth shut. If he loves her, let him say so. An' you didn't say +so. +</P> + +<P> +"Then again, Kate was flattered by Blakely's attention. What girl +wouldn't be? Tom, yuh've got to remember a girl's mind ain't built +like a man's. She don't reason the same way. She can't. Then, again, +every girl is a coquette. Take the homeliest slabsided critter in +creation, an' at heart she's just as much of a coquette as a she-angel +with a pretty figger. They can't help it. It's born in 'em like their +teeth are. +</P> + +<P> +"An' you men don't take that into account. You think the girl you +admire ain't got no right to look at nobody but you, an' that she's got +to be all ready to fall into yore arms when you say the word. An' if +she don't do these things yuh rise up in the air like a mean pony an' +go cavortin' off sayin', 'Drat the women!' I know yuh. Yo're all +alike." +</P> + +<P> +"But, ma'am, I——" +</P> + +<P> +"No time for 'I's' now. Like I says before, yuh can talk later. Well, +here's Kate Saltoun—pretty as all git-out, an' assayin' twelve ounces +o' real woman to the pound, troy. Naturally, like I says, she's a +coquette an' don't know her own mind about the boys. None of 'em +don't. I didn't. Well, times Kate knows she loves you, an' times she +thinks she loves Blakely." +</P> + +<P> +"How did she know I loved her? I hadn't said a word about it." +</P> + +<P> +"My fathers! don't yuh s'pose a woman knows when a man loves her? He +doesn't have to tell her. She knows. Well, as I was sayin', she's +a-waverin' this way an' that, an' then along comes that evenin' you +don't go out on the porch, an' she kind o' guesses she loves Blakely +an' she takes that party. Mind yuh, she thought she loves him. Kate's +honest. She couldn't lie to herself." +</P> + +<P> +"She did when she said I drawed first," said Loudon in a low voice. "I +can't get over that, somehow." +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, at the time you an' Blakely was cuttin' down on each other Kate +was excited. She couldn't 'a' seen things straight. She told me she +thought yuh drawed first. I believe her—why can't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"But I didn't draw first." +</P> + +<P> +"I know yuh didn't, but I believe Kate when she says she thought you +did draw first. That's what I mean. Under the circumstances, yuh'd +ought to believe her, too. But never mind about that now. You cut +stick an' come here to the Bend. An' Kate begun to find out there was +somethin' missin'. Somehow, the Bar S without you didn't seem like the +Bar S. Before yuh lit out she'd gotten used to havin' yuh around. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh don't miss a saddle, Tom, till yuh have to ride bareback. Same +way with Kate. She missed yuh, an' as every day went by she missed yuh +more an' more. Then it come to her. She knowed the man she loved, an' +that feller was you, yuh big, thick-skulled lummox! Oh, if you was +fifteen years younger I'd lay yuh over my knee an' wear out a quirt on +yuh for bein' a fool! I never could abide a fool. But yuh'll know +somethin' before I get through." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't mind me, ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't—not a bit! I like you, an' I just love that Kate girl, or I +wouldn't be a-settin' here now. Well, when Kate knowed her own mind at +last, she gave Blakely back his ring, an' that settled him. She wanted +you back, an' the only way she could think of to get yuh back was to go +after yuh. So she done it. An' you had to fight with her an' drive +her away! She just couldn't wait for the stage. She done hired a +buckboard an' drove back to the Bar S. She made Dorothy an' Lil +promise not to tell yuh she'd gone. They told me. She wouldn't tell +'em what had happened between you two. But she was cryin' when she +left, so don't tell me yuh didn't fight with her. +</P> + +<P> +"Lil an' Dorothy guessed it right away, an' they're mad at yuh, you +bet. Yuh've busted Kate's heart, that's what yuh've done. Now ain't +yuh ashamed o' yoreself? Don't yuh think yuh didn't act just right? +Don't yuh think yuh might 'a' been just a little bit forgivin' when you +could see the girl loved yuh with all her heart?" +</P> + +<P> +"She said she'd never marry a ignorant puncher." +</P> + +<P> +"I know. She told me about that time in the Bar S kitchen. Don't yuh +understand—can't yuh get it through yore head that happened <I>before</I> +she woke up to the fact that you was the only feller on earth?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did she tell yuh all this?" +</P> + +<P> +"She did. Poor little girl, she come to me one evenin', an' she was +all wrought up. I seen somethin' was the matter, an' I knowed it would +do her a heap o' good to get it off her chest, an' I got it out of her +little by little. She was sobbin' like a young one before she was +through, an' I was a-holdin' her in my arms, an' I was cryin' some +myself. She made me promise not to let on to you, but I ain't a-goin' +to set by an' see her hurt when a word or two from me can set things +straight. It's the first time I ever broke my word, but I don't care. +I aim to help her all I can." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, did she tell yuh what Blakely done?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. What did he do?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno. She hates him worse'n poison now. He's done somethin', but +she wouldn't tell me what." +</P> + +<P> +"He's been botherin' her likely, the skunk! You'd ought to crawl his +hump first chance yuh get." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe I will." +</P> + +<P> +"Looky here. I ain't quite through. What did you'n her fight about?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothin', ma'am. Honest. I'm there in bed, an' all of a sudden she +busts out cryin' an' says she loves me, an' then she goes into the +kitchen an' pretty soon she goes out—an' she never does come back. +Then in comes Mis' Mace an' she acts mighty unpleasant, an' Dorothy +acts the same, an' I believe I'd ruther been at the hotel, considerin'." +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose yuh just lay there like a bump on a log after Kate told yuh +she loved yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, ma'am, I—I—what could I do, ma'am? I couldn't get up." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh might 'a' spoken." +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't think o' nothin' to say, ma'am," pleaded Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yuh poor tongue-tied galoot! Yuh don't deserve no luck, yuh +don't! Well, I've said my say. I've done all I could. Yuh got to do +the rest yore own self. But if yuh don't go an' do it like a man, then +I'm disappointed in yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Did Kate tell Mis' Mace an' yore daughter what she told you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, she didn't. She only told me." +</P> + +<P> +"Then they took an awful lot for granted. They acted like Kate an' me +was in love with each other." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, my land! They could see Kate cared for yuh. Anybody with half +an eye could see that. Naturally they didn't s'pose yuh was actin' +like a complete idjit. What yuh goin' to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh dunno! Yuh dunno! An' Kate all but goes on her knees to tell yuh +how sorry she is for what she done! Not only that, but she says she +loves yuh besides! An' all yuh can say is yuh dunno. My land! I +can't say what I think o' yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"But I dunno, I tell yuh, Mis' Burr. I wish I'd stayed in Fort Creek +County. This here town o' Paradise Bend is shore a hot-house o' +matchmakers. First Scotty—then you—then Mis' Mace. Fine lot o' +Cupids, you are. Can't let a fellah alone. Any one would think I +couldn't manage my own affairs." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh can't. In a case like this yuh need help." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm gettin' it." +</P> + +<P> +"Which I hope it does yuh some good. Now I ain't a-goin' to say +another word. I've told yuh just exactly what yuh needed to be told. +Do what yuh think best. How's the ankle gettin' along?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't bear my full weight on it yet." +</P> + +<P> +"No, nor yuh won't for a few days. In a week yuh can go out to the +ranch if yuh like. Scotty wants to see yuh but he said special yuh +wasn't to think o' comin' till yuh was all right. Oh, shore, yuh'd +like to lope right off an' have the ankle go back on yuh an' be no good +at all while the rest o' the boys are out in the hills. Don't worry, +I'll tend to yore interests—an' Scotty's. I'll see that yuh don't go." +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't thinkin' o' goin', ma'am," hastily disclaimed Loudon. "Are +Telescope an' the outfit havin' any luck?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a smidgen. The boys got in just before I left. They trailed the +hoss-band over a hundred miles an' then lost the trail near Miner +Mountain. A rainstorm did that trick, an' they couldn't pick up the +trail again nohow." +</P> + +<P> +"Swing Tunstall was right. He said if there was a rainstorm round, +them rustlers would locate it." +</P> + +<P> +"They did." +</P> + +<P> +"The outfit ain't quit, has it?" +</P> + +<P> +"They're a-goin' out again. Scotty says he won't quit till he finds +his hosses." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Loudon spent the following week in unobtrusive shadowing of Pete +O'Leary. But not once did that young man leave the confines of +Paradise Bend. The fellow spent all of his time loafing in the +vicinity of the Burr house or playing poker at the Three Card. He may +have known that he was being watched. For Loudon's methods were not +those of a Pinkerton shadow. +</P> + +<P> +When the time came for Loudon to depart, Mrs. Burr followed him out to +the corral. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom," said she, when his horse was saddled, "Tom, I like you an' Kate. +I like yuh both an awful lot. I'd shore enjoy seein' yuh both happy. +Forgive her, Tom, an' yuh will be happy. I'm an old woman, but I've +seen a lot o' life, an' it's taught me that love is the biggest thing +in the world. If yuh got it yuh don't need nothin' else. Don't throw +it away. Don't. Now don't forget to remember me to that old +reprobate, Scotty Mackenzie, an' tell him me an' Dorothy are comin' out +to see him in a couple o' days." +</P> + +<P> +The new Flying M cook, a citizen of the Bend, greeted Loudon with +fervour. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank Gawd yuh've come!" he exclaimed. "That there Scotty is shore +the —— invalid I ever seen! Forty times a day reg'lar he r'ars an' +sw'ars 'cause yuh ain't arrove yet, an' forty times a day he does +likewise for fear yuh'll come before yore ankle's all right. Yo're the +bright apple of his eye, Tom. How yuh done it, I don't see. I can't +please his R'yal Highness in a million years." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's a cinch when yuh know how," grinned Loudon. "Where's the +outfit?" +</P> + +<P> +"Most of 'em are out with Telescope. Doubleday an' Swing Tunstall are +drivin' a bunch o' hosses over to the north range. Mister Mackenzie is +a-settin' up in the office doin' like I said." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon went at once to the office. Scotty, propped in an armchair, +evinced no sign of the restlessness mentioned by the cook. He shook +hands calmly and smiled cheerfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Glad to see yuh," he said. "Set down an' be happy. How's the peg? +All right, huh? That's good. Me? Oh, I'm pullin' through like a +greased fish. I'll be poppin' round jovial an' free in another week or +so. About them rustlers, now. I think——" +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Scotty," interrupted Loudon, eagerly, "I got a small jag o' news. +I dunno what yore plans are, but I'll gamble what I got to say'll make +a difference." +</P> + +<P> +"Let her flicker." +</P> + +<P> +For half an hour Loudon spoke rapidly. At the end of his recital the +eyes of Scotty Mackenzie were cold and hard and very bright. +</P> + +<P> +"What's yore plan?" he queried. +</P> + +<P> +"Go to Farewell an' Marysville. What I find out in them two places +will show me what to do next. I'm goin' to Farewell anyhow on my own +hook." +</P> + +<P> +"If I say no, would yuh quit me now?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd have to. I got business with a certain party in Farewell. After +I'd finished up I'd come back o' course—if yuh still wanted me." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't say no. I think yuh've hit it. I knowed yuh was +Opportunity with a big O when I hired yuh. Yuh've proved it. Fly at +it, Tom, an' prove it some more. Get the evidence, an' I'll do the +rest. We'll wipe out the 88 ranch, hide, hoof, an' taller. There +ain't a ranch in Sunset County that won't help. We can count in the +Cross-in-a-box, the Double Diamond A, an' the Hawgpen, in the Lazy +River country, too. Oh, we'll fix 'em. How many o' the boys do yuh +want? I don't begrudge 'em to yuh, but go as light as yuh can. I +still got quite a few hosses left to wrangle." +</P> + +<P> +"Gimme Telescope." +</P> + +<P> +"Is he enough? I can spare another—two if I got to." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yuh see, I was countin' on borrowin' Johnny Ramsay from Jack +Richie, an' there's Chuck Morgan o' the Bar S. I guess I can get him." +</P> + +<P> +"Get him, an' I'll give him a job after it's all over. Wish I could +get Johnny Ramsay, too, but he'd never quit Richie. Well, yuh shore +done noble in findin' out that truck about Pete O'Leary." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh've got to thank Miss Saltoun for that. She done it all." +</P> + +<P> +"Her! Old Salt's daughter! Say, I take it all back. She can come out +here whenever she wants. I'll be proud to shake her hand, I will. +Well, I did hope it'd be Dorothy, but now I suppose it's Miss Saltoun. +Dunno's I blame yuh. Dunno's I blame yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"As usual, yo're a-barkin' up the wrong stump. I'm gun-shy of all +women, an' I don't want to talk about 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, all right, all right," said Scotty, hastily. "How soon can yuh +start?" +</P> + +<P> +"Right now, soon's I get another hoss." +</P> + +<P> +"Take Brown Jug. He'll tote yuh from hell to breakfast an' never feel +it. Yuh'll find the outfit som'ers over north o' Miner Mountain, I +guess. Tell Telescope I want him to go with yuh, an' the rest of 'em +are to come home on the jump. Doubleday an' Swing have got their hands +full twenty times over. First thing I know there won't be a cayuse +left on the ranch." +</P> + +<P> +Two days later Loudon and Laguerre rode into Rocket and spent the night +at the hotel. The landlord, Dave Sinclair, had an interesting tale to +tell. +</P> + +<P> +"Yest'day," said Dave, "Lanky Bob finds Jim Hallaway's body in a gully +near the Bend trail. Jim had been shot in the back, an' he'd been dead +quite a while. Jim an' his brother Tom have a little ranch near the +Twin Peaks, an' Tom hadn't missed him none 'cause Jim, when he left the +ranch, expected to be gone a month. +</P> + +<P> +"Come to find out, Jim had been ridin' a bald-face pinto. Accordin' to +Tom's description that pinto was the livin' image of the one that +friend o' Block's was ridin' the day they come into my place a-lookin' +for information. The sheriff's got a warrant out for that Cutting +gent." +</P> + +<P> +"Hope he gets him," said Loudon; "but he won't. He's got too big a +start. I'd shore admire to know what he done with my hoss." +</P> + +<P> +"You hoss brak hees laig," stated Laguerre. "Sartain shore dat what +happen." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess yo're right," glumly agreed Loudon. "He wouldn't change +Ranger for no bald-face pinto less'n the chestnut was out o' whack for +keeps." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A MURDER AND A KILLING +</H4> + +<P> +Loudon and Laguerre did not ride directly to Farewell. The three +months Loudon had given Blakely would not be up for five days. The two +men spent the intervening time in the country between the Farewell +trail and the Dogsoldier River. Of their quarry they found no trace. +</P> + +<P> +Not at all disheartened, however, they rode into Farewell on the +morning of the day set for the meeting. As usual, Bill Lainey was +dozing in front of his hotel. They put their horses in the corral, and +awakened Lainey. +</P> + +<P> +"Shake hands with Mr. Laguerre, Bill," said Loudon, "an' tell me what +yuh know." +</P> + +<P> +"Glad to know yuh, Mr. Laguerre," wheezed the fat man. "I only know +one thing, Tom, an' that is, Farewell ain't no place for you. I've +heard how there's a warrant out for yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Is Block in town?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not just now. He rid out yest'day. But he may be back any time. The +Sheriff o' Sunset's here. He's lookin' for Rufe Cutting. Seems Rufe's +been jumpin' sideways up north—killed a feller or somethin'. The +Sunset Sheriff allows Rufe drifted south in company with Block. Block, +he says he never seen Cutting. Looked like a shootin' for a minute, +but Block he passed it off, an' left town 'bout a hour later." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the Sheriff o' Sunset don't want me," observed Loudon, "an' he's +a good fellah, anyway. Guess I'll stick here to-day. Maybe Block'll +come back an' make it amusin'. See anythin' of our friend, Mr. Sam +Blakely?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sam don't never drift in no more," replied Lainey. "Ain't seen him +since I dunno when. Some o' the boys do now an' then, but even they +don't come like they useter. Why, last Monday, when Rudd an' Shorty +Simms sifted in, was the first time in three weeks that any o' the 88 +boys had been in town. Shorty said they was powerful busy at the +ranch." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good. It's probably the first time they ever was busy. See +yuh later, Bill. S'long." +</P> + +<P> +"So long." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll bet they was busy them three weeks," said Loudon, as he and +Laguerre walked away. "The evidence is beginnin' to show itself, ain't +it?" +</P> + +<P> +"You bet," assented Laguerre, his eyes shining. +</P> + +<P> +Most of the citizens they met regarded Loudon with noncommittal eyes, +but a few of the glances were frankly unfriendly. The two men entered +the Happy Heart Saloon, there being sounds of revelry within. +</P> + +<P> +On a table sat the Sheriff of Sunset County. He was heartily +applauding the efforts of a perspiring gentleman who was dancing a jig. +Loudon perceived that the sheriff, while not precisely drunk, was yet +not sober. His gestures were free and his language freer. +</P> + +<P> +There were at least a score of men in the saloon, and they were all +Block's close friends. They muttered among themselves at Loudon's +entrance. The story of Block's tarring and feathering had lost nothing +in transmission. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon and Laguerre made their way to the far end of the bar and +ordered drinks. With the wall at their backs they were reasonably +secure from treachery. The Sheriff of Sunset nodded to the two men +from the Bend and continued to shout encouragement to the jigging +citizen. Finally, the dancer succumbed to exhaustion. The sheriff +slid from the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I got to be wrigglin' along," he said. "See yuh later." +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, Sheriff, not yet," protested a tall man with wolfish +features. "Have another drink first. Just one. Step up, gents, step +up. Name yore poison." +</P> + +<P> +"No, not another one," said the sheriff, but his tone lacked conviction. +</P> + +<P> +He had another, two in fact. Again he started for the door. But the +wolf-faced man barred the way. +</P> + +<P> +"Sheriff," he wheedled, "what yuh say to a little game? Just one +little game. Only one. Yuh can't be in such a all-fired hurry yuh +can't stop for just one." +</P> + +<P> +"I got to get Rufe Cutting," said the sheriff. "I ain't got no time +for poker." +</P> + +<P> +"Now, looky here, Sheriff," coaxed the tempter, "yuh'll stand just as +much show o' gettin' Rufe right here in Farewell as yuh will anywhere +else. What's the use o' ridin' the range an' workin' yoreself to +death, when yuh can stay here cool and comf'table?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, shut up! I'm a-goin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, o' course, if yo're broke——" +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't broke. What do——" +</P> + +<P> +"No offence, Sheriff. No harm meant. None whatever." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll play yuh one game an' that's all. C'mon." +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff played more than one game, for he won the first. He +continued to win. He thought no more of Rufe Cutting. And he sat with +his back toward the doorway. Which position is the most eminently +unsafe of any that an officer of the law may assume. Once, during that +time, Laguerre suggested to Loudon that they go elsewhere. But Loudon +had whispered: +</P> + +<P> +"Wait. There's somethin' crooked here." +</P> + +<P> +So they waited, Loudon watching for he knew not what piece of evil, +Laguerre mystified but thoroughly prepared for eventualities. It was +noticeable that, excepting the card-players, the men in the room were +afflicted with a strange restlessness. They moved aimlessly about; +they hitched their chairs to new positions; they conversed by fits and +starts; they threw frequent glances toward the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly it happened. +</P> + +<P> +A squat-bodied man with bat ears appeared on the threshold. As at a +signal, the three men playing with the sheriff flung themselves down on +the floor. The hand of the squat-bodied man shot up and forward. A +revolver cracked twice, and the Sheriff of Sunset County quietly +crumpled across the card-table. +</P> + +<P> +Through the swirling smoke of the discharge two red streaks flashed as +the six-shooters of Loudon and Laguerre barked in unison. The +squat-bodied man fell forward on his face. +</P> + +<P> +Head and shoulders on the floor of the saloon, his legs on the +sidewalk, he lay motionless. Side by side, the souls of the sheriff +and his murderer sped homeward. +</P> + +<P> +The habitués of the Happy Heart unhurriedly deserted their points of +vantage against the wall, on the floor, or behind the bar, and gathered +about the corpse of the squat-bodied man. They gazed upon the body for +a brief space of time, then, one by one, they stepped carefully over it +and departed. +</P> + +<P> +"Gents," squeaked the perturbed bartender, "would yuh mind goin' out in +the street? I—I'm goin' to close up." +</P> + +<P> +"It's only the mornin'," said Loudon. "Why close up?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sick. I got indigestion right bad," the bartender explained. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, the bartender looked quite ill. His complexion had turned a +pasty yellow and his teeth were clicking together. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh look right bad," agreed Loudon. "But yo're mistaken about closin' +up. Yo're a-goin' to keep open. Telescope, let's get the sheriff +spread out right." +</P> + +<P> +They pushed two tables together. Then they lifted the sheriff's body +and laid it on the tables. They unbuckled the spurs, straightened the +limbs, covered the still face with the neck handkerchief, and put the +hat over the gaping wound in the chest where the bullets had come out. +When they had done all that they could they needed a drink. The +shivering bartender served them. +</P> + +<P> +"For Gawd's sake, gents!" he pleaded. "Block'll be here in a minute! +Go out in the street, won't yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Block'll be here,'" repeated Loudon. "How do yuh know he'll be here?" +</P> + +<P> +The bartender began to stutter. His complexion became yellower. +Loudon turned to Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +"Talks funny, don't he?" he observed. "Can't say nothin' but 'I.'" +</P> + +<P> +Reaching across the bar, he seized the bartender by the shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, fellah," he continued, "how do yuh know so much about Block?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—I—I——" sputtered the bartender. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought Block had left town. How do yuh know he's back?" +</P> + +<P> +The bartender changed his tune. +</P> + +<P> +"Ow! Ow!" he yelled. "Yo're hurtin' me! My shoulder! Ow!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll hurt yuh worse if yuh don't spit out what yuh know about Block +an' his doin's." +</P> + +<P> +"He—he—oh, I can't! I can't!" wailed the bartender. +</P> + +<P> +"Block shore has you an' the rest o' these prairie-dogs buffaloed. I +just guess yes. Well, yuh needn't tell me. I'm a pretty good guesser +myself. Telescope, let's you'n me go call on Block." +</P> + +<P> +"I am you," said Laguerre, and slid through a rear window. Loudon +followed. They hastened along the rear of the line of houses and +crouched beneath the windowsill of a small two-room shack at the end of +the street. There were sounds of a hot discussion in progress in the +front room. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess he's home!" whispered Loudon. "Might as well go in." +</P> + +<P> +Gently they opened the back door, and very quietly they tiptoed across +the floor of the back room to a closed door. +</P> + +<P> +"We've got to hurry," a voice was saying. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," said the voice of Sheriff Block. "You three cover 'em through +the back window when me an' the rest come in the front door. Yuh know +there won't be no fuss if yore fingers slip on the trigger. I'd rather +bury a man any day than arrest him." +</P> + +<P> +With a quick motion Loudon flung open the door. +</P> + +<P> +"'Nds up!" cried he, sharply, covering the roomful. +</P> + +<P> +Ten pairs of hands clawed upward. There were eleven men in the room. +Every one of the lot, save the eleventh man, had the impression that +the six-shooters of Loudon and Laguerre bore upon him personally. +</P> + +<P> +The eleventh citizen, being nearest the door and possessing a gambler's +spirit, attempted to reach the street. He reached it—on his face. +For Loudon had driven an accurate bullet through the fleshy part of his +thigh. +</P> + +<P> +"The next fellah," harshly announced Loudon, "who makes any fool breaks +will get it halfway beneath his mind an' his mouth. There's a party in +the corner, him with the funny face—he ain't displayin' enough +enthusiasm in reachin' for the ceilin'. If he don't elevate his +flippers right smart an' sudden, he won't have no trouble at all in +reachin' the stars." +</P> + +<P> +The biceps of the gentleman of the face immediately cuddled his ears. +The ten men were now painfully rigid. They said nothing. They did not +even think to swear. They knew what they deserved and they dreaded +their deserts. +</P> + +<P> +"Telescope," observed Loudon, softly, "s'pose yuh go round an' unbuckle +their belts. Better go through 'em, too. They might carry +shoulder-holsters under their shirts. Take the hono'ble Mister Sheriff +Block first. That's right. Now, Mister Sheriff, go an' stand in that +corner, face to the side wall, an' keep a-lookin' right at the wall, +too. I wouldn't turn my head none, neither. Yuh see, I don't guess +there'd be no fuss made if my finger should slip on the trigger. It's +a heap easier to bury a man than arrest him, ain't it?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon laughed without mirth. Block's nine friends, murder in their +eyes, stared at Loudon. He stared back, his lips drawn to a white line. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're a healthy lot o' killers," commented he. +</P> + +<P> +The last belt and six-shooter thudded on the floor just as Loudon +perceived that the wounded citizen in the street was endeavouring to +crawl away. +</P> + +<P> +"Telescope," he said, "I guess now the party in the street would feel a +heap easier in here with all his friends." +</P> + +<P> +Telescope marched out into the street and removed the wounded man's +gun. Then he seized him by the collar, dragged him into the shack, and +dumped him in a corner. Meanwhile, Loudon had lined up the nine +beltless citizens beside Block against the side wall. They stood, +stomachs pressed against the planks, a prey to violent emotions. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh can rest yore hands against the wall," said Loudon, kindly, "an' +that's just all yuh can do." +</P> + +<P> +"Gimme a drink!" gasped the wounded man. +</P> + +<P> +Telescope scooped up a dipperful from the bucket under the table. When +the man had drunk, Telescope proceeded to cut away his trouser-leg and +wash and expertly bandage the wound. His work of mercy finished, the +efficient Telescope took post near the doorway where he could watch the +street. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon seated himself on the edge of the table and rolled a cigarette +one-handed. A silence, marred only by the flurried breathing of the +stuck-up gentlemen, fell upon the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Block," said Loudon, suddenly, "where's Blakely?" +</P> + +<P> +Block maintained his attitude of silent protest. Loudon gently +repeated his question. Block made no reply. +</P> + +<P> +Bang-g! Block convulsively shrank to one side. The line of citizens +shook. Smoke curled lazily from the muzzle of Loudon's six-shooter. +</P> + +<P> +"Block," observed Loudon, serenely, "get back in position. That's +right. Next time, instead o' shadin' yore ear I'll graze it. Now +where's Blakely?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno," replied Block in a choked tone of voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe yuh don't, maybe yuh don't. Ain't he at the ranch no +more?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't been to no ranch." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't say yuh had, did I?" mildly reproved Loudon. "But now that +yuh've brought it up, where did yuh pick up Shorty Simms?" +</P> + +<P> +"What do yuh mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'll explain to yuh. I always do that. Habit I got. Yuh see, +Block, yest'day after you an' the Sheriff o' Sunset had a few words yuh +left town. To-day in comes Shorty Simms an' kills the sheriff—shoots +him in the back, which is natural for a killer like Shorty. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Block, between the time of yore ridin' away yest'day an' the +murder o' the sheriff to-day a fellah on a hoss like yores would just +about have time to ride to the 88 ranch an' back. O' course the fellah +wouldn't have time for pickin' posies on the way, but he could make it +by steady ridin'. Think hard now, Block, think hard. Ain't it just +possible yuh rid over to the 88?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, —— yuh, I didn't!" +</P> + +<P> +"No? Well, now, ain't that curious? I shore thought yuh did. +Telescope, I think I see a couple o' hosses in Block's corral. Would +yuh mind ridin' herd on this bunch while I go out an' look at 'em?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon went out into the street. Far down the street a group of men +had gathered. Otherwise the street was deserted. Even Bill Lainey had +disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stopped and stared at the distant figures. They made no hostile +motions, but appeared to hold converse with each other. One detached +himself from the group and came toward Loudon. He saw that it was his +friend, Mike Flynn, the one-legged proprietor of the Blue Pigeon Store. +The red-headed Irishman, his mouth a-grin from ear to ear, halted in +front of Loudon and stretched out his hamlike paw. +</P> + +<P> +"H'are yuh, Tom, me lad," he said, giving Loudon's hand a terrific +grip. "I'm glad to see yuh, an' that's the truth. Others are not so +glad, I'm thinkin'." He peered through the doorway. "I thought so. +'T's all right, Tommy, me an' me friends is with yuh heart an' soul. +Though Farewell don't look it they's a few solid min like meself in the +place who are all for law an' order an' a peaceful life. But they +ain't enough of us, djuh see, to get all we want to once. +</P> + +<P> +"Still, we can do somethin', so, Tommy, me lad, go as far as yuh like +with Block an' his constituents yuh got inside. Put 'em over the +jumps. Me an' me frinds will see that they's no attimpts made at a +riscue. We will that. Be aisy. If yuh have a chance come to the Blue +Pigeon. Not a word. Not a word. I know yo're busy." +</P> + +<P> +Mike Flynn returned whence he came. Loudon was considerably relieved +by what the Irishman had said. For only ten of the men who had been in +the Happy Heart were in Block's shack, and the absence of the others +had given him much food for thought. He hastened to inspect the horses +in the corral. Within three minutes he had resumed his seat on Block's +table. +</P> + +<P> +"'Course I ain't doubtin' yore word, Block," he observed, "but one o' +them hosses is yore black, an' the other hoss is a gray pony branded 88 +an' packin' a saddle with Shorty Simms's name stamped on the front o' +the cantle. Both hosses look like they'd been rode fast an' far. +Well, Shorty's dead, anyway. You yellow pup, yuh didn't have nerve +enough to shoot it out with the sheriff yore own self! Yuh had to go +get one o' Blakely's killers to do yore dirty work for yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Wat you say, Tom?" queried Laguerre. "Keel heem un tak hees hair, +huh?" +</P> + +<P> +"It'd shore improve him a lot. I got a plan, Telescope. Just wait a +shake. Block, where's Rufe Cutting an' what happened to my hoss +Ranger?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno nothin' about Cutting," mumbled Block. +</P> + +<P> +Instantly Loudon's six-shooter cracked. With a yelp of pain Block +leaped a yard high and clapped a hand to his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Up with them hands!" rapped out Loudon. "Up with 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +Block, shaking like a cedar branch in a breeze, obeyed. From a ragged +gash in the Darwinian tubercle of his right ear blood trickled down his +neck. +</P> + +<P> +"Block," said Loudon in his gentlest tone, "I wish yuh'd give me some +information about Rufe. I'll ask yuh again, an' this time if yuh don't +answer I'll ventilate yore left ear, an' I'll use one o' these guns on +the floor here. Yuh got to make allowances for ragged work. I won't +know the gun like I do my own, an' I may make more of a shot than I +mean to. Yuh can't tell." +</P> + +<P> +He drew a six-shooter from one of the dropped holsters, and cocked it. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's Rufe Cutting an' my hoss Ranger?" continued Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno! I tell yuh I dunno!" squealed the desperate sheriff. +</P> + +<P> +One of the two guns in Loudon's hands spoke twice. Block fell to his +knees, his hands gripping his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Get up!" shouted Loudon. "Get up! It's only yore ear again. I used +my own gun after all!" +</P> + +<P> +Then, both what he had undergone at the hands of Block and the loss of +his pet suddenly overwhelming him, he leaped at the crouching sheriff +and kicked him. +</P> + +<P> +"You —— murderer!" he gritted through his teeth. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's my hoss? Where is he? —— yore soul! What did Rufe do to +him? Tell me, or by —— I'll beat yuh to death here an' now!" +</P> + +<P> +And with his wire-bound Mexican quirt Loudon proceeded savagely to lash +the sheriff. Loudon was a strong man. He struck with all his might. +The double thongs bit through vest and flannel shirt and raised raw +welts on the flesh. +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff writhed around and flung himself blindly at his torturer. +But Loudon kicked the sheriff in the chest and hurled him, a groaning +heap, into his corner. Nor did he cease to thrash him with the quirt. +Between blows he bawled demands for news of his horse. Loudon felt +sure that Ranger was dead, but he wished to clinch the fact. +</P> + +<P> +"He's gone! Oh, my Gawd! He's gone south!" screamed Block, unable to +withhold utterance another second. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon held the quirt poised over his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh mean Rufe Cutting?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Both of 'em! Rufe an' the hoss! They're both gone!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh mean Rufe has took my hoss away?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes! Yes! Don't hit me with that again." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon did not know whether to believe the sheriff. It was more than +possible that Block was lying to escape further punishment. Loudon +stared at him. He made an ugly picture lying there on the floor, his +face a network of red welts. His shirt was dabbled and stained with +the blood from his wounded ears. +</P> + +<P> +"I was goin' to give yuh a chance," said Loudon, slowly. "I was aimin' +to give yuh yore gun an' let yuh shoot it out with me. But I can't do +that now. Yuh ain't in no shape for shootin'. It'd be like murder to +down yuh, an' I ain't goin' to practise murder even on a dog like you. +I'm kind o' sorry I feel that way about it. Yuh don't deserve to live +a minute." +</P> + +<P> +"You keel heem," put in Laguerre. "She try for keel you een de Ben'. +Or I keel heem. I don' care. So she die, dat's enough." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't be did, Telescope." +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you, my frien', you let heem go, she mak plenty trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"We've got to risk that. Yuh can't murder a man, Telescope. Yuh just +can't." +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre shrugged expressive shoulders and said no more. It was +Loudon's business. He was boss of the round-up. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh see how it is, Block," observed Loudon. "I can't down yuh now, +but next time we meet it's shoot on sight. Next time yuh see Blakely +tell him I expected to meet him here in Farewell. I don't guess he'll +come now. Still, on the off chance that he does, me an' my friend will +stay till sunset. Telescope, I feel sort o' empty. Guess I'll go in +the back room an' rustle some chuck." +</P> + +<P> +While Loudon and Laguerre were eating, the sheriff fainted. The strain +of standing upright combined with the rough handling he had received +had proved too much for him. Laguerre threw the contents of the water +bucket over the sheriff. +</P> + +<P> +When the sheriff recovered consciousness Loudon gave the nine citizens +permission to sit on the floor. And they sat down stiffly. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly the long hours passed. Occasionally Loudon walked to the door +and looked up and down the street. Apparently Farewell dozed. +</P> + +<P> +But it was far from being asleep. Here and there, leaning against the +house walls in attitudes of ease, were men. These men were posted in +pairs, and Loudon saw Mike Flynn stumping from one couple to another. +One pair was posted across the street from the sheriff's shack. The +first time Loudon appeared in the doorway these two nodded, and one +waved his arm in friendly fashion. There were only twelve in all of +these sentinels, but their positions had been chosen with strategic +wisdom. Any attempt at a rescue would be disastrous to the rescuers. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Loudon when the sun was near its setting, "we might as +well be movin', Telescope." +</P> + +<P> +"Mabbeso our hosses been rustle'," suggested Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +"If they are we'll get 'em back. Our friends here'll fix that up O.K." +</P> + +<P> +The friends glared sullenly. They wanted blood, and lots of it. They +had been stuck up and reviled, two of them had been wounded, and their +self-respect had been grievously shattered. Vengeance would be very +sweet. They wished for it with all the power of very evil hearts. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon gathered up all the cartridge-belts and six-shooters and strung +them together. He slung the bundle over his shoulder and addressed his +captives. +</P> + +<P> +"You fellahs stand on yore feet. Yo're goin' down street with us. +Telescope, I'll wait for 'em outside. Send 'em out, will yuh." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stepped into the street. One by one the men came out and were +lined up two by two in the middle of the street. +</P> + +<P> +The last man was the sheriff. He did not shamble, and he did not keep +his eyes on the ground in the manner of a broken man. It was evident +that the virtue which passed with him for courage had returned. Even +as Captain Burr had remarked, Sheriff Block was not as other men. He +was a snake. Nothing but the bullet that killed him could have any +effect upon his reptilian nature. This Loudon realized to the full. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm watchin' yuh, Block," he said. "My hand ain't none shaky yet, +even if I have been holdin' a gun on yuh all day." +</P> + +<P> +Block shot him a venomous side glance and then looked straight ahead. +</P> + +<P> +"Git along, boys," ordered Loudon. "We'll be right behind yuh." +</P> + +<P> +With Loudon and Laguerre marching on the right and left flank rear +respectively the procession trailed down the street till it arrived +opposite Bill Lainey's hotel. There, in obedience to Loudon's sharp +command, it halted. While Laguerre guarded the prisoners Loudon went +to the corral. He found Lainey sitting on a wagon-box beside the gate, +a double-barrelled shotgun across his knees. Lainey was excessively +wide awake. +</P> + +<P> +"Did somebody come a-lookin' in at our hosses?" drawled Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Somebody did," wheezed Lainey. "Somebody near had both of 'em out the +gate, but I had this Greener handy, an he faded. By ——! I'd shore +admire to see any tin-horn rustle hosses out o' my corral. They're fed +an' watered, Tom, an' my wife's done——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Mr. Loudon," interrupted Mrs. Lainey, sticking her lean head out +of the kitchen window. "I knowed yuh wouldn't have no time to eat, so +I just rolled up some canned tomatters an' canned peaches an' some +beans an' some bacon an' a little jerked beef in yore slickers. Ain't +it hot? My land! I'm most roasted to death. How'd yuh like it up +no'th?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fine, Mis' Lainey, fine," replied Loudon. "I'm obliged to yuh, ma'am. +I hope next time I'm in town I won't be so rushed an' I'll have time to +stay awhile an' eat a reg'lar dinner. I tell yuh, ma'am, I ain't +forgot yore cookin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, you go 'long!" Mrs. Lainey giggled with pleasure and withdrew her +head. +</P> + +<P> +"Bill," said Loudon, "yo're a jim-hickey, an' I won't forget it. Let's +see—four feeds, two dinners. How much?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothin', Tom, nothin' a-tall. Not this trip. It's on the house. +This is the first time I ever had a real chance to pay yuh back for +what yuh done for my kid. Don't say nothin', now. Tom, I kind o' +guess Farewell is due to roll over soon. Me an' Mike Flynn an' Piney +Jackson, the blacksmith, an' a few o' the boys are gettin' a heap tired +o' Block an' his little ways." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought Piney was a friend o' Block's." +</P> + +<P> +"He was, but Block ain't paid for his last eight shoein's, an' Piney +can't collect, an' now he ain't got a bit o' use for the sheriff. Some +day soon there's goin' to be a battle. Downin' the Sheriff o' Sunset +just about put the hat on the climax. Folks'll take us for a gang o' +murderers. Well, I'm ready. Got this Greener an' a buffler gun an' +four hundred cartridges. Oh, I'm ready, you bet!" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, leading the two horses, rejoined his comrade. The animals were +fractious, yet Loudon and Laguerre swung into their saddles without +losing for an instant the magic of the drop. +</P> + +<P> +"We got here without no trouble," Loudon observed in a loud tone. +"We're goin' back the way we came. We'll hope that nobody turns loose +any artillery from the sidewalk. If they do you fellahs won't live a +minute." +</P> + +<P> +No shots disturbed the almost pastoral peace of Farewell as prisoners +and guards retraced their steps. Opposite the sheriff's shack the +convoy began to lag. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep a-goin'," admonished Loudon. "We don't like to part with yuh +just yet." +</P> + +<P> +The prisoners were driven to where a tall spruce grew beside the +Paradise Bend trail, three miles from Farewell. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh can stop here," said Loudon. "We'll drop yore guns an' belts a +couple o' miles farther on. We're goin' back to the Bend, an' we'll +tell the boys what a rattlin' reception yuh give me an' my friend. If +yuh see Sam Blakely, Block, don't forget to tell him I was a heap +disappointed not to find him to-day. So long, sports, yo're the +easiest bunch o' longhorns I ever seen." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon laughed in the sheriff's blood-caked face, and set spurs to his +horse. +</P> + +<P> +"How far we go, huh?" queried Laguerre, when a fold in the ground +concealed the tall spruce. +</P> + +<P> +"About four mile. There's a draw runnin' southeast. We'll ride down +that. We'd ought to be at the Cross-in-a-box round two o'clock. We +could turn off right after we dump this assortment o' cannons. They +won't follow us to see whether I told 'em the truth or not. They'll +just keep right on believin' we're a-headin' for the Bend hot-foot." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess dey weel. Say, my frien', why deed'n you geet dat warran' +from de sher'f un mak heem eat eet? I would, me." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want to let on I know anythin' about the warrant. Block wants +to spring it nice an' easy. All right—let him." +</P> + +<P> +Between two and three in the morning they dismounted in front of the +Cross-in-a-box ranch house. Loudon pushed open the front door and +walked in. He closed the door and set his back against it. +</P> + +<P> +"Hey, Jack!" he called. "Wake up!" +</P> + +<P> +"Who's there?" came in the incisive voice of Richie, accompanied by a +double click. +</P> + +<P> +"It's me—Tom Loudon. I want to see yuh a minute." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good hearin'. I'll be right out. Light the lamp, will yuh, +Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +Tousle-headed Jack Richie brisked into the dim circle of lamplight and +gripped his friend's hand. He was unfeignedly glad to see Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"C'mon where it's light," invited Richie. "What yuh standin' by the +door for? I'll turn the lamp up." +</P> + +<P> +"No, yuh won't. Don't touch the lamp, Jack. There's plenty o' light +for my business. I'm standin' here 'cause I don't want nobody to know +I come here to-night—nobody but you an' Ramsay." +</P> + +<P> +"I see," said Richie. "Want a hoss?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, ours'll do. Yeah, I've got a friend with me. I can't bring him +in. Got to be movin' right quick. I just stopped to know could I +borrow Johnny Ramsay for a while. It's on account o' the 88 outfit." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh shore can. The 88, huh? Well, I wish yuh luck. When yuh need +any more help, let me know." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks, Jack. I knowed I could count on yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll get Johnny right away." +</P> + +<P> +"No, to-morrow 'll do. There's somethin' I want Johnny to do first. +I'd like him to ride over to the Bar S an' tell Chuck Morgan that if he +feels like makin' a change there's a job waitin' for him at the Flyin' +M. I hate to take one of his men away from Old Salt, but it's root hog +or die. I need another man, an' Chuck'll just fill the bill." +</P> + +<P> +"Lemme fix it up. I can borrow Chuck for yuh. Old Salt'll listen to +me. No, I won't have to tell him nothin' about yore business. Leave +it to me." +</P> + +<P> +"All right. That's better'n takin' Chuck away from him. Yuh needn't +mention no name, but yuh can guarantee to Old Salt that Chuck's wages +will be paid while he's off, o' course. Yuh can tell Chuck on the side +that Scotty Mackenzie will do the payin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Scotty, huh? I did hear how he lost a bunch o' hosses. How many—two +hundred, wasn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"One hundred. But that's enough." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh don't suspect the 88, do yuh? Why, the Flyin' M is two hundred +mile north." +</P> + +<P> +"What's two hundred mile to the 88? An' didn't Scotty ride it just to +find out whether I was straight or a murderer?" +</P> + +<P> +"He shore did," laughed Richie. "Yuh couldn't blame the old jigger, +though. That 88 brand on yore hoss was misleadin' some." +</P> + +<P> +"That hoss o' mine's been stole. Yep, lifted right in the street in +Paradise Bend. Rufe Cutting done it." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't remember him. Is he anybody special besides a hoss thief?" +</P> + +<P> +"Friend o' Blakely's. Block says Rufe's drifted south—him an' the +hoss. But Block may be lyin'. Yuh can't tell." +</P> + +<P> +"Did the sheriff give yuh that information free of charge?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not so yuh could notice it. I got it out of him with a quirt, an' I +had to drill both his ears, he was that stubborn." +</P> + +<P> +"Drilled both his ears. Well! Well! Yuh'd ought to have killed him." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it. He went an' got Shorty Simms to kill the Sheriff o' +Sunset." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore. It was thisaway." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon related the circumstances of the sheriff's murder. +</P> + +<P> +"An'," he said in conclusion, "Sunset ain't a-goin' to take it kindly." +</P> + +<P> +"Which I should say not! His friends'll paint for war, that's a cinch. +This country's gettin' worse an' worse!" +</P> + +<P> +"No, only the people are, an' maybe we can get some of 'em to change. +But I been here too long already. We're ridin' to Marysville, Jack, +an' we aim to stay there a couple o' days. Tell Johnny an' Chuck to +meet us there, an' tell 'em not to bawl out my name when they see me. +It'd be just like the two of 'em to yell her out so yuh could hear it +over in the next county. An' I've got plenty of reasons for wishin' to +be private." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry none. They'll keep their mouths shut. I'll fix that up. +I wish yuh luck, Tom. I shore hope yuh get the 88 an' get 'em good. I +ain't lost no more cows lately, but I don't like 'em any better for +that." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I could make Old Salt see the light," Loudon grumbled. +</P> + +<P> +"I kind o' think he's comin' round. I seen him a week ago, an' he +didn't talk real friendly 'bout the 88. But then, he might have had a +bellyache at the time. Old Salt's kind o' odd. Yuh can't always tell +what he's thinkin' inside." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MARYSVILLE +</H4> + +<P> +Judge Allison, portly and forty, sat on the porch of the Sunrise Hotel +in Marysville. The judicial hands were clasped over the judicial +stomach, and the judicial mind was at peace with all mankind. However, +a six-shooter in a shoulder-holster nudged the judicial ribs beneath +each arm-pit. For mankind is peevish and prone to hold grudges, and in +order to secure an uninterrupted term on the bench a judge must be +prepared for eventualities. +</P> + +<P> +Tied to the hitching-rail in front of the hotel was a good-looking +sorrel horse. It bore the Barred Twin Diamond brand. Judge Allison +had bought the horse that very morning. He had bought him from the +keeper of the dance hall, Mr. William Archer, who, it seemed, had five +others for sale. +</P> + +<P> +Judge Allison was delighted with his bargain. He knew a horse when he +saw one, and he felt that he had gotten the best of Archer in the deal. +True, as Archer had said, the sorrel was a little footsore, but two or +three weeks of light work would cure that. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," mused the Judge, "a good animal. Sixteen hands high if he's an +inch, and I'll bet he can run rings round any cow-pony in the +community. By Jove, here come two unusually fine animals!" +</P> + +<P> +Which last remark was called forth by the approach of two big rangy +horses, a bay and a gray. The riders, very dusty, both of them, were +hard-looking characters. A week's growth of stubble does not add to +the appearance of any one. They were tall, lean men, these two, and +one of them was exceedingly swarthy. +</P> + +<P> +They dismounted at the hitching-rail, tossed the reins over their +horses' heads, and went into the bar. Both, as they passed, glanced +casually at the Judge's sorrel. +</P> + +<P> +"Flying Diamond A," said the judge to himself, eying the strangers' +mounts. "I don't believe I ever heard of that outfit. It must be a +southwestern ranch." +</P> + +<P> +Judge Allison had never heard of his sorrel's brand, the Barred Twin +Diamond, either. But then the Judge knew Mr. William Archer, or +thought he did, and to question the authenticity of the brand had not +entered his head. +</P> + +<P> +The two tall, lean riders would have been greatly pleased had they +known of the ease with which the Judge read the brands on their horses' +hips. It was a tribute to their skill in hair-branding. Pocket-knives +in their hands, they had spent hours in a broiling hot draw altering +the Flying M to the Flying Diamond A. +</P> + +<P> +On paper it is ridiculously simple. Merely prolong upward, till they +meet, the outer arms of the Flying M, and there you have it, a +perfectly good Flying Diamond A. But it is quite another story when +one's paper is the hide of a nervous horse which frantically objects to +having its hair pinched out. +</P> + +<P> +The strangers happened to be sitting on the porch when the Judge rode +homeward on his sore-footed purchase. They noted how tenderly the +Barred Twin Diamond sorrel walked, and promptly retired to the bar and +made a fast friend of the bartender. +</P> + +<P> +That afternoon the younger of the two hard-looking characters, the +gray-eyed man, became exceedingly intoxicated and quarrelled with his +swarthy friend who remained quite sober. The friend endeavoured to get +him to bed—they had taken a room at the hotel—but the drunken one ran +away. For a gentleman overcome by drink he ran remarkably well. +</P> + +<P> +He was discovered an hour later in Mr. Archer's corral, making +hysterical endeavours to climb the fence, and bawling that he was being +detained against his will and would presently make a sieve of the +individual who had hidden the gate. To which end he flourished a +six-shooter. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Archer opened the gate and invited the tippler to come out. But +this he refused to do, and offered to fight Mr. Archer rough-and-tumble +or with knives on a blanket. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Archer, with an eye to future patronage, did not send for the +marshal. He sent for the man's friend. When the swarthy one appeared, +the other immediately sheathed his six-shooter, burst into maudlin +tears, and fell on his neck. Weeping bitterly, he was led away to the +hotel and to bed. +</P> + +<P> +"I've seen drunks," observed a plump dance-hall girl, "but I never seen +one as full as he is that could walk so good. His licker only seems to +hit him from the belt up." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there's drunks an' drunks," sagely replied Mr. Archer. "When +yo're as old as I am, Clarice, yuh won't wonder at nothin' a drunk +does." +</P> + +<P> +When the two strangers were in their room with the door shut the +younger one lay down on his cot and stuffed the end of a blanket into +his mouth. His whole big frame shook with uproarious mirth. He kicked +the cot with his boot-toes and bounced up and down. His friend laughed +silently. +</P> + +<P> +"Telescope," whispered the man on the bed, when he could open his mouth +without yelling, "Telescope, I got it all. They's five hosses in that +corral o' Archer's, all of 'em sore-footed an' all branded Barred Twin +Diamond. It's done mighty slick, too. Yuh can't hardly tell it ain't +the real thing. An' one of 'em, a black with two white stockings, I +can swear to like I can to that sorrel the bartender said the Judge +bought. I've rode 'em both." +</P> + +<P> +"Sleeck work," breathed Laguerre. "I kin sw'ar to dat sorrel, too. I +know heem, me. He ees six year old, un dat red one I see een de +corral, I know heem. I bust heem a t'ree-year old. He ees five now. +But de odders I not so shore." +</P> + +<P> +"It don't matter. They're all Scotty's horses. That's a cinch." +</P> + +<P> +"I won'er eef de rest back een de heel. W'at you t'ink?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, they ain't. Why, look here, Telescope, them six sorefoots tell +the story. If the rustlers was holdin' the band in the hills they'd +'a' kept the six. But they didn't. They turned 'em over to Archer. +That shows they was drivin' 'em, an' drivin' 'em some'ers near here. +Well, the railroad ain't more'n fifty mile south. Farewell's about +sixty mile north. If them rustlers got the band this far their best +move would be to keep right on to the railroad an' ship the hosses east +or west. An' I'll gamble that's what they've done." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon gazed triumphantly at Laguerre. The latter nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"You are right, you bet," he said, his eyes beginning to glitter. "I +hope dem two odder boys geet a move on." +</P> + +<P> +"They ought to pull in to-morrow. To-night, when I'm all sober again, +we'll go down to the dance hall an' find out if Archer's made any +little out-o'-town trips lately. Telescope, I'm shore enjoyin' this. +To-morrow I'm goin' to make the acquaintance o' the Judge an' see what +he thinks o' this rustler Loudon who goes spreadin' the Crossed +Dumbbell brand up an' down the land. Yes, sir, I got to shake hands +with Judge Allison." +</P> + +<P> +Again mirth overcame him, and he had recourse to the blanket. +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn' go see dat Judge," advised Laguerre, with a dubious shake of +the head. "She may not be de damfool. She might have you' face +describe', huh. She might see onder de w'iskair. You leave heem +'lone, my frien'." +</P> + +<P> +But Loudon remained firm in his resolve. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Archer was a good business man. His two fiddlers were excellent, +and his girls were prettier than the average cow-town dance-hall women. +Consequently, Mr. Archer's place was popular. When Loudon and Laguerre +entered, four full sets were thumping through a polka on the dancing +floor, and in the back room two gamblers sat behind their boxes, +players two deep bordering the tables. +</P> + +<P> +After a drink at the bar the two watched the faro games awhile. Then +Laguerre captured a good-looking brunette and whirled with her into a +wild waltz. Loudon singled out a plump little blonde in a short red +skirt and a shockingly inadequate waist and invited her to drink with +him. +</P> + +<P> +"I seen yuh this mornin'," she confided, planting both elbows on the +table. "Yuh shore was packin' a awful load. I wondered how yuh walked +at all." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I can always walk," said Loudon, modestly. "Liquor never does +affect my legs none—only my head an' my arms." +</P> + +<P> +"Different here, dearie. When I'm full it hits me all over. I just go +blah. Yuh got to carry me. I can't walk nohow. But I don't tank up +much. Bill Archer don't like it. Say, honey, what djuh say to a +dance? Don't yuh feel like a waltz or somethin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd rather sit here an' talk to yuh. Besides, my ankle's strained +some. Dancin' won't do it no good." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right. Well, buy me another drink then. I want to get forty +checks to-night if I can." +</P> + +<P> +"Help yoreself. The bridle's off to you, Mary Jane." +</P> + +<P> +"Call me Clarice. That's my name. Ain't it got a real refined sound? +I got it out of a book. The herowine was called that. She drowned +herself. Gee, I cried over that book! Read it six times, too. Here's +luck, stranger." +</P> + +<P> +"An' lots of it, Ethel. Have another." +</P> + +<P> +"Just for that yuh don't have to call me Clarice. Yuh can call me +anythin' yuh like 'cept Maggie. A floozie named that stole ninety-five +dollars an' four bits an' a gold watch offen me once. I ain't liked +the name since. Well, drown sorrow." +</P> + +<P> +"An' drown her deep. Say, I kind o' like this town. It suits me down +to the ground. How's the cattle 'round here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothin' to brag of. They's only a few little ranches. They's gold in +the Dry Mountains over east a ways. Placers, the claims are. Bill +Archer's got a claim some'ers west in the foot-hills o' the Fryin' +Pans. He works it quite a lot, but he ain't never had no luck with it +yet. Leastwise, he says he ain't." +</P> + +<P> +"Has he been out to it lately?" asked Loudon, carelessly. +</P> + +<P> +The girl did not immediately reply. She stared fixedly into his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Stranger," she said, her voice low and hard, "stranger, what do yuh +want to know for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I was just a-wonderin'. Not that I really want to know. I was +just talkin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh seem to enjoy talkin' quite a lot." +</P> + +<P> +"I do. Habit I got." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what do yuh want to know about Bill Archer for?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't. Say, can't I make a natural remark without yore jumpin' +sideways?" +</P> + +<P> +"Remarks is all right. It's yore questions ain't. Stranger, for a +feller who's just makin' talk yore eyes are a heap too interested. I +been in this business too long a time not to be able to read a gent's +eyes. Yo're a-huntin' for somethin', you are." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm a-huntin' a job—that's all. What do yuh take me for, anyway?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno how to take yuh. I——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, have another drink an' forget it." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore I'll have another drink, but I dunno as I—— Oh, well, yo're +all right, o' course. I'm gettin' foolish, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +Her words did not carry conviction, and certainly she did not cease to +watch Loudon with furtive keenness. He strove by means of many drinks +and a steady flow of conversation to dispel her suspicions. The girl +played up to perfection, yet, when he bade her good-night, it was with +the assured belief that she and Archer would have a little talk within +five minutes. +</P> + +<P> +The bar was nearly empty when Loudon and Laguerre entered the hotel. +Two drunken punchers were sleeping on the floor, a mongrel under a +table was vigorously hunting for fleas, and the bartender was languidly +arranging bottles on the shelves. Loudon ordered drinks and treated +the bartender. +</P> + +<P> +"Any chance o' pickin' up a stake in the Dry Mountains?" hazarded +Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"How?" queried the bartender. +</P> + +<P> +"Placer minin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, gents, if yuh don't care how hard yuh work for five dollars a +day, the Dry Mountains is the place. I never had no use for a +long-tailed shovel myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I heard how them stream-beds was rich." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't yuh believe it, gents. If they was, there wouldn't be no +Marysville 'round here. It'd be all over in the Dry Mountains. No, +gents, it's like I says. Yuh can get the colour all right enough, but +yuh won't make more'n five a day on an average. Who wants to rock a +cradle for that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Now ain't that a fright?" complained Loudon. "Chucked up our jobs +with the Flyin' Diamond A 'cause we heard how there was gold in the Dry +Mountains, an' come all the way up here for nothin'. It shore does +beat the devil!" +</P> + +<P> +"It does, stranger, it does. Have one on the house, gents." +</P> + +<P> +"Say," said Loudon, when the liquor was poured, "say, how about east in +the foothills o' the Fryin' Pans? Any gold there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Stranger, them Fryin' Pans has been prospected from hell to breakfast +an' they ain't showed the colour yet. Take my word for it, gents, an' +leave the Fryin' Pans alone. Bill Archer's got a claim some'ers over +that way an' he goes traipsin' out to it every so often. Stays quite a +while, Bill does, sometimes. Don't know why. He don't never get +nothin'." +</P> + +<P> +"How do yuh know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Stranger, I know them hills. I've prospected that country myself. +There's no gold in it." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe Bill Archer don't agree with yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Likely he don't. He's a hopeful cuss as ever was. Why, gents, only +about ten days ago he got back from a two weeks' trip to his claim. A +month ago he was gone maybe a week. An' it goes on like that. Why, +I'll bet Bill Archer spends mighty nigh four months in every year out +on his claim. There's perseverance for yuh, if nothin' else." +</P> + +<P> +The two friends agreed that it was indeed perseverance and retired to +their room. +</P> + +<P> +"We've got Archer pretty nigh hog-tied," murmured Loudon as he pulled +off his trousers. +</P> + +<P> +"You bet," whispered Laguerre. "Archer she ees w'at you call de fence, +huh? De odder feller dey run off de pony un de cow, un Archer she sell +dem. Eet ees plain, yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Plain! I guess so. It'll be a cinch." +</P> + +<P> +It might appear cinch-like, but there were more dips and twists in the +trail ahead than Loudon and Laguerre dreamed of. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning Loudon strolled down the street and entered the dance +hall. Mr. Archer was behind the bar, and he greeted Loudon with grave +politeness. +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing in Archer's manner to indicate that Clarice had +talked. In perfect amity the two men drank together, and Loudon took +his departure. His visit to the dance hall had one result. The depth +of Mr. Archer's character had been indicated, if not revealed. Loudon +had hoped that he was a hasty person, one given to exploding at +half-cock. Such an individual is less difficult to contend with than +one that bides his time. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, not wholly easy in his mind, went in search of Judge Allison. +He found him in the Sweet Dreams Saloon telling a funny story to the +bartender. The Judge was an approachable person. Loudon had no +difficulty in scraping an acquaintance with him. Half-an-hour's +conversation disclosed the fact that the Judge's hobby was the horse. +Loudon talked horse and its diseases till he felt that his brain was in +danger of developing a spavin. +</P> + +<P> +Judge Allison warmed to the young man. Here was a fellow that knew +horses. By Jove, yes! Reluctantly the Judge admitted to himself that +Loudon's knowledge of breeding secrets far exceeded his own. In a land +where horses are usually bred haphazard such an individual is rare. +</P> + +<P> +The Judge took Loudon home with him in order to pursue his favourite +subject to its lair. Which lair was the Judge's office, where, cheek +by jowl with "Coke upon Littleton" and Blackstone's ponderous volumes, +were books on the horse—war, work, and race. +</P> + +<P> +"It's astonishing, sir," pronounced the Judge, when his negro had +brought in a sweating jug of what the Judge called cocktails, "truly +astonishing what vile poison is served across our bars. And I say +'vile' with feeling. Why, until I imported my own brands from the East +my stomach was perpetually out of order. I very nearly died. Have +another? No? Later, then. Well, sir, my name is Allison, Henry B. +Allison, Judge of this district. What may I call you, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"Franklin, Judge, Ben Franklin," replied Loudon, giving the name he had +given the landlord of the hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"Any relation of Poor Richard?" twinkled the Judge. +</P> + +<P> +"Who was he?" queried Loudon, blankly. +</P> + +<P> +"A great man, a very great man. He's dead at present." +</P> + +<P> +"He would be. Fellah never is appreciated till he shuffles off." +</P> + +<P> +"We live in an unappreciative world, Mr. Franklin. I know. I ought +to. A judge is never appreciated, that is, not pleasantly. Why, last +year I sentenced Tom Durry for beating his wife, and Mrs. Tom +endeavoured to shoot me the day after Tom was sent away. The mental +processes of a woman are incomprehensible. Have another cocktail?" +</P> + +<P> +"No more, thanks, Judge. I've had a-plenty. Them cocktail jiggers +ain't strong or nothin'. Oh, no! Two or three more of 'em an' I'd go +right out an' push the house over. I'm feelin' fine now. Don't want +to feel a bit better. Ever go huntin', Judge?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't. I used to. Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was just a-wonderin'. Yuh see, me an' my friend are thinkin' o' +prospectin' the Fryin' Pans, an' we was a-wonderin' how the game was. +Don't want to pack much grub if we can help it." +</P> + +<P> +"The Frying Pans! Why, Bill Archer has a claim there. Never gets +anything out of it, though. Works it hard enough, too, or he used to +at any rate. Odd. About three weeks ago he told me he was riding out +to give it another whirl. Last week, Tuesday, to be exact, I was +riding about twenty miles south of here and I met Bill Archer riding +north. He seemed quite surprised to meet me. I guess he doesn't work +that claim as much as he says." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the way we come north—through that country east of the Blossom +trail." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I was west of the Blossom trail—fully ten miles west. What? +Going already? Why, I haven't had time to ask you about that +extraordinary case of ringbone you ran across in Texas. Wait. I'll +get a book. I want to show you something." +</P> + +<P> +It was fully an hour before Loudon could tear himself away from Judge +Allison. As he crossed the street, a buckboard drawn by two sweating, +dust-caked ponies rattled past him and stopped in front of the Judge's +office. The driver was a woman swathed in a shapeless duster, her face +hidden by a heavy veil, and a wide-brimmed Stetson tied +sunbonnet-fashion over her ears. At first glance she was not +attractive, and Loudon, absorbed in his own affairs, did not look twice. +</P> + +<P> +"Find out anythin'?" inquired Laguerre, when Loudon met him at the +hotel corral. +</P> + +<P> +"I found out that when Archer came back from that claim in the Fryin' +Pans he come from the direction o' the railroad. The Judge met him +twenty mile south an' ten mile west o' the trail to Blossom. Blossom +is almost due south o' here. The next station west is Damson. We'll +go to Damson first. C'mon an' eat." +</P> + +<P> +The long table in the dining room was almost deserted. At one end sat +Archer and a lanky person in chaps. Loudon caught the lanky gentleman +casting sidelong glances in his direction. Archer did not look up from +his plate. It was the first meal at which they had met either the +dance-hall keeper or his tall friend. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder," mused Loudon. "I wonder." +</P> + +<P> +After dinner Loudon inquired of the bartender whether it was Archer's +custom to eat at the hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"First time he ever ate here to my knowledge," said the bartender. +"He's got a home an' a Injun woman to cook." +</P> + +<P> +"It's the little tumble-weeds show how the wind blows," thought Loudon +to himself, and sat down in a corner of the barroom and pondered deeply. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes later he removed his cartridge-belt, hung it on the back +of his chair, and composed himself ostensibly to doze. His +three-quarter shut eyes, however, missed nothing that went on in the +barroom. +</P> + +<P> +Archer and his lanky friend entered and draped themselves over the bar. +Loudon, after a brief space of time, arose, stretched, and yawningly +stumbled upstairs. He lay down on his cot and smoked one cigarette +after another, his eyes on the ceiling. +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre wandered in, and Loudon uttered cogent sentences in a whisper. +Laguerre grinned delightedly. His perverted sense of humour was +aroused. Loudon did not smile. What he believed to be impending gave +him no pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess I'll go down," announced Loudon, when an hour had elapsed. "No +sense in delayin' too long." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Laguerre, "no sense een dat." +</P> + +<P> +He followed his friend downstairs. +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me I took it off in here," Loudon flung back over his +shoulder, as though in response to a question. "Shore, there it is." +</P> + +<P> +He walked across the barroom to where his cartridge-belt and +six-shooter hung on the back of a chair. He buckled on the belt, +Archer and his lanky friend watching him the while. +</P> + +<P> +"How about a little game, gents?" suggested Archer. +</P> + +<P> +In a flash Loudon saw again the barroom of the Happy Heart and the +Sheriff of Sunset County surrounded by Block's friends. The wolf-faced +man had employed almost those very words. Loudon smiled cheerfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, shore," he said, "I'm with yuh. I left my coin upstairs. I'll +be right down." +</P> + +<P> +He hurried up to his room, closed the door, and set his back against +it. Drawing his six-shooter he flipped out the cylinder. No circle of +brass heads and copper primers met his eye. His weapon had been +unloaded. +</P> + +<P> +"Fell plumb into it," he muttered without exultation. "The —— +murderers!" +</P> + +<P> +He tried the action. Nothing wrong there. Only the cartridges had +been juggled. He reloaded hastily from a fresh box of cartridges. He +would not trust those in his belt. Heaven only knew how far ahead the +gentleman who tampered with his gun had looked. +</P> + +<P> +When Loudon returned to the barroom, Laguerre and the other two men +were sitting at a battered little table. The vacant chair was opposite +Archer's lanky friend, and the man sitting in that chair would have his +back to the door. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't like to sit with my back to the door," stated Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Some don't," said the lanky man, shuffling the cards. +</P> + +<P> +"Meanin'?" Loudon cocked an inquisitive eyebrow. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, nothin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore?" +</P> + +<P> +"Positive, stranger, positive." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good. Change seats, will yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +The lanky citizen hesitated. Loudon remained standing, his gray eyes +cold and hard. Then slowly the other man arose, circled the table, and +sat down. Loudon slid into the vacated chair. +</P> + +<P> +The lanky man dealt. Loudon watched the deft fingers—fingers too deft +for the excessively crude exhibition of cheating that occurred almost +instantly. To Archer the dealer dealt from the bottom of the pack, and +did it clumsily. Hardly the veriest tyro would have so openly bungled +the performance. For all that, however, it was done so that Loudon, +and not Laguerre, saw the action. +</P> + +<P> +"Where I come from," observed Loudon, softly, "we don't deal from the +bottom of the pack." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you say I'm a-dealin' from the bottom of the pack?" loudly demanded +the lanky man. +</P> + +<P> +"Just that," replied Loudon, his thumbs hooked in the armholes of his +vest. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're a liar!" roared the lanky one, and reached for his gun. +</P> + +<P> +Archer fell over backwards. Laguerre thrust his chair to one side and +leaped the other way. +</P> + +<P> +No one saw Loudon's arm move. Yet, when the lanky man's fingers closed +on the butt of his gun, Loudon's six-shooter was in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +The lanky man's six-shooter was half drawn when Loudon's gun spat flame +and smoke. The lanky's one's fingers slipped their grip, and his arm +jerked backward. Lips writhing with pain, for his right elbow was +smashed to bits, the lanky man thrust his left hand under his vest. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't," cautioned Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +The lanky man's hand came slowly away—empty. White as chalk, his left +hand clenched round the biceps of his wounded arm, the lanky man swayed +to his feet and staggered into the street. +</P> + +<P> +Archer arose awkwardly. His expression was so utterly nonplussed that +it would have been laughable had not the situation been so tragic. A +thread of gray smoke spiraled upward from the muzzle of Loudon's +slanting six-shooter. Laguerre, balanced on his toes, watched the +doorway. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stared at Archer. The latter moved from behind the table and +halted. He removed his hat and scratched his head, his eyes on the +trail of red blots leading to the door. +</P> + +<P> +"——!" exclaimed Archer, suddenly, raising his head. "This here kind +o' puts a crimp in our game, don't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"That depends on how bad yuh want to play," retorted Loudon. "I'm +ready—I'm always ready to learn new tricks." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't just feel like poker now," hedged Archer, ignoring the insult. +"I reckon I'll see yuh later maybe." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't strain yoreself reckonin'," advised Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't. So long, gents." +</P> + +<P> +With an airy wave of his head Bill Archer left the barroom. +</P> + +<P> +Inch by inch the head of the bartender uprose from behind the +breastwork of the bar. The barrel of a sawed-off shotgun rose with the +head. When Loudon holstered his six-shooter the bartender replaced the +sawed-off shotgun on the hooks behind the bar. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, sir, gents," remarked the bartender with an audible sigh of +relief, "which I'm never so glad in my life when Skinny Maxson don't +pull that derringer. She's a .41 that derringer is, the bar's right in +the line o' fire—it ain't none too thick—an' Skinny always shoots +wide with a derringer. Gents, the drinks are on the house. What'll +yuh have?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're a Christian," grinned Loudon. "Is Skinny Maxson anythin' +special 'round here?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's a friend o' Bill Archer's," replied the bartender, "an' he's +got—I mean he had a reputation. I knowed he was lightning on the draw +till I seen you—I mean till I didn't see yuh pull yore gun. Mr. +Franklin, that was shore the best exhibition o' quick drawin' I ever +seen, an' I used to work in Dodge City. Good thing yuh was some swift. +Skinny don't shoot a six-gun like he does a derringer. No, not for a +minute he don't! But look out for Skinny's brother Luke. He's got a +worse temper'n Skinny, an' he's a better shot. This nickin' o' Skinny +is a heap likely to make him paint for war. He's out o' town just now." +</P> + +<P> +A clatter of running feet was heard in the street. Through the doorway +bounded a stocky citizen, blood in his eye, and a shotgun in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's the —— shot Skinny!" he howled. +</P> + +<P> +"Luke!" cried the bartender, and dived beneath the bar. +</P> + +<P> +"Stranger, I wouldn't do nothin' rash," observed Loudon, squinting +along the barrel of his six-shooter. "Drop that shotgun, an' drop her +quick." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's tone was soft, but its menace was not lost on the wild-eyed +man. His shotgun thudded on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"By Gar!" exclaimed Laguerre. "Eet ees——" +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up!" roared Loudon. "I'm seein' just what yo're seein', but +there's no call to blat it out!" +</P> + +<P> +For the wild-eyed man was the same individual who had brought the tale +of the Hatchet Creek Indian uprising to Farewell. But there was no +recognition in the man's eyes, which was not remarkable. Loudon and +Laguerre, on that occasion, had been but units in a crowd, and even +when they exchanged shots with the fellow the range was too long for +features to be noted. Besides, the thick growth of stubble on their +faces effectually concealed their identity from any one who did not +know them well. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd kind o' elevate my hands, Brother Luke," suggested Loudon. +"That's right. Yuh look more ornamental thataway. An' don't shake so +much. You ain't half as mad as yo're tryin' to make out. If you was +real hot you'd 'a' took a chance an' unhooked that shotgun when yuh +come in. Brother Luke, yo're a false alarm—like Skinny." +</P> + +<P> +"Lemme pick up my shotgun, an' I'll show yuh!" clamoured Luke Maxson, +whom the purring voice was driving to a frenzy. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh lost yore best chance, an' chances don't travel in pairs—like +brothers." +</P> + +<P> +"Do somethin'! Do somethin'!" chattered Luke. +</P> + +<P> +"No hurry. Don't get het, Brother Luke. If I was to do somethin' yore +valuable an' good-lookin' carcass would be damaged. An' I just ain't +got the heart to shoot more than one man a day." +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre laughed outright. From behind the bar came the sound of a +snicker hastily stifled. +</P> + +<P> +"You let me go," yapped Luke Maxson, "an' I'll down yuh first chance I +git!" +</P> + +<P> +"Good argument against lettin' yuh go." +</P> + +<P> +At the window flanking the door appeared the plump face and shoulders +of Judge Allison. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't yuh do somethin', —— yuh?" yelled Luke Maxson. "I'm +gettin' tired holdin' my arms up!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Loudon, "as I told yuh before, though yuh can't seem to +get it through yore thick head, it's a mighty boggy ford. I feel just +like the fellah swingin' on the wildcat's tail. I want to let go, but +I can't. If I was shore none o' yore measly friends would shoot me in +the back, I'd let yuh go get yore Winchester an' shoot it out with me +in the street at a hundred yards. But the chance o' yore friends +bustin' in shore dazzles me." +</P> + +<P> +"None of 'em won't move a finger!" Luke hastened to assure Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +The latter looked doubtful. The Judge coughed gently and rubbed his +clean-shaven chin. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Franklin," said Judge Allison, "should you care to try conclusions +with Mr. Maxson in the street, pray accept my assurances that no one +will interfere. I speak unofficially, of course. Furthermore, in a +wholly unofficial capacity I shall oversee proceedings from the +sidewalk. If any one should be so ill-advised as to—— But no one +will, no one will." +</P> + +<P> +"You hear what the Judge says?" Loudon cocked an eyebrow at Luke Maxson. +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, shore," said that worthy, feverishly. "Lemme pick up my +shotgun, an' in five minutes I'll be back in the middle o' Main Street +a-waitin' for yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Five minutes is too long," observed Loudon. "Make it three. An' yuh +needn't touch that shotgun. Yuh can get it later—if yo're able." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're shore in a hurry!" sneered Luke. +</P> + +<P> +"I always am with a coward an' a liar an' a low-down, baby-robbin' +road-agent." +</P> + +<P> +At these words rage almost overwhelmed Luke Maxson. Only the long +barrel of that steady six-shooter aimed at his abdomen prevented him +from hurling himself barehanded upon his tormentor. +</P> + +<P> +"One moment, gentlemen!" exclaimed the Judge. "In the interest of fair +play permit me to settle one or two necessary preliminaries. The +street runs approximately north and south so the sun will not favour +either of you. Mr. Maxson will take his stand in the middle of the +street opposite the dance hall. Mr. Franklin will also post himself in +the middle of the street but opposite the hotel. The hotel and dance +hall are about a hundred yards apart. I shall be on the sidewalk +midway between the two places. At a shot from my revolver you +gentlemen will commence firing. And may God have mercy on your souls. +Gentlemen, the three minutes start immediately." +</P> + +<P> +"Git," ordered Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +Luke Maxson fled. The Judge vanished from the window. Loudon hurried +upstairs for his rifle. In the street could be heard the voice of +Judge Allison booming instructions to the passersby to remove +themselves and their ponies from the range of fire. +</P> + +<P> +"Geet heem, by Gar!" enjoined Laguerre, clicking a cartridge into the +chamber of his own rifle. "Geet heem! You got to geet heem! I'm +behin' you, me! I trus' dat judge feller, but I trus' myself more. +Eef anybody jump sideway at you, I geet heem." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll get him," muttered Loudon. "Don't worry none, Telescope. He'll +get it like his brother." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, Tom, no fancy shootin' at de elbow," exclaimed Laguerre in +alarm. "Geet hees hair." +</P> + +<P> +"You just wait. C'mon." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE RAILROAD CORRAL +</H4> + +<P> +Loudon stepped out into the street. Laguerre stationed himself on the +sidewalk twenty yards in Loudon's rear. Every window and doorway +giving a view of the scene of hostilities was crowded with spectators. +On the sidewalk, fifty yards from the hotel, stood Judge Allison, watch +in hand. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stood, one leg thrust slightly forward, his eyes on the +dance-hall door, and his cocked rifle in the hollow of his left arm. +</P> + +<P> +Not for an instant did he fear the outcome. His self-confidence was +supreme. Oddly enough, his mind refused to dwell on the impending +duel. He could think of nothing save the most trivial subjects till +Luke Maxson stepped out of the dance-hall doorway. +</P> + +<P> +Then a prickling twitched the skin between Loudon's shoulders, and he +experienced a curious species of exhilaration. It reminded him of a +long-ago evening in Fort Worth when he had drunk a bottle of champagne. +The exhilaration vanished in a breath. Remained a calculating coldness +and the pleasing knowledge that Luke Maxson was still excited. +</P> + +<P> +<I>Bang</I>! The Judge's six-shooter spoke. Instantly the upper half of +Maxson's figure was hidden by a cloud of smoke. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon worked his Winchester so rapidly that the reports sounded like +the roll of an alarm-clock. At his sixth shot, simultaneously with a +blow on his left foot that jarred his leg to the knee, he saw Luke +Maxson drop his rifle and fall forward on his hands and knees. +</P> + +<P> +Then Maxson jerked his body sidewise and sat up, his back toward +Loudon, his hands clutching his legs. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon lowered the hammer of his Winchester and gazed down at his +numbed foot. Most of the high heel of his boot had been torn away. +Which was the sole result of his opponent's marksmanship. Walking with +a decided list to port he unhurriedly crossed to the hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"Gimme a drink!" he called to the bartender. "An' have one yoreself." +</P> + +<P> +"Forgeet me, huh?" chuckled Laguerre, hard on his friend's heels. +"Mak' eet t'ree, meestair." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Tom," Laguerre said, when they were alone. "W'y deed you tell me +to shut up, huh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't yuh see, Telescope?" replied Loudon. "Here's Bill Archer a heap +suspicious of us already. He's guessed we're from the Bend, but if we +don't recognize Luke Maxson he won't know what to think. Anyway, I'm +gamblin' he won't canter right off an' blat out to the 88 that two +fellahs are on their trail. Instead o' doin' that it's likely he'll +trail us when we pull our freight, an' try to make shore just what our +game is. It's our job to keep him puzzled till everythin's cinched. +Then he can do what he likes. It won't make a bit of difference." +</P> + +<P> +"You are right," nodded Laguerre. "You t'ink sleecker dan me dees tam. +But w'y you not keel de man, huh?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Cause, dead an' buried, he can't be identified. Gripped up in bed +he'll make a fine Exhibit A for our outfit." +</P> + +<P> +"You was tak' a beeg chance." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not so big. He was mad when he came into the saloon, an' I made +him a heap madder before I got through talkin' to him. Yuh can't shoot +good when yo're mad." +</P> + +<P> +And Loudon grinned at Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +"You old sun-of-a-gun!" said his friend, admiringly. +</P> + +<P> +That hearty soul, Judge Allison, brought the news half an hour after +the shooting that Luke Maxson was far from being badly wounded. There +were, it seemed, three bullets in Luke's right leg and two in his left. +And the left leg was broken. +</P> + +<P> +At this last Loudon brightened visibly. He had feared that his +adversary had merely sustained flesh wounds. A broken leg, however, +would confine the amiable Luke to his bed for a period of weeks, which, +for the proper furtherance of Loudon's plans, was greatly to be desired. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon began to fear for the safety of Judge Allison. Marysville was +not apt to take kindly the Judge's rather open espousal of the +stranger's cause. And Loudon liked Judge Allison. He felt that the +Judge was honest; that he had been duped by Block and Archer and the +others of their stripe; that, his eyes once opened to the true state of +affairs, the Judge would not hesitate to show the malefactors the error +of their ways. +</P> + +<P> +In time Loudon intended to take the Judge into his confidence, but that +time was not yet. In the meantime, no evil must come to Judge Allison. +Loudon took the Judge aside. +</P> + +<P> +"Yore Honour," said he, "ain't yuh just a little too friendly to me an' +my friend? We don't have to live here, but you do." +</P> + +<P> +The Judge did not immediately make reply. He put his head on one side +and looked at Loudon under his eyebrows. +</P> + +<P> +"In so far as I may," said the Judge at last, "I do what pleases me. +Even so, no man in the possession of his senses performs any act +without good reason. Regarding my reason for what little I did, I can +at present say, 'Cherchez la femme.' Ah, here comes the stage! I must +go to the postoffice. Come to my office in about fifteen minutes, Mr. +Franklin, and remember, '<I>Cherchez la femme</I>.'" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stared in perplexity after the retreating figure. +</P> + +<P> +"'<I>Shershay la fam</I>,'" he repeated. "Now I'd like to know what that +means. <I>Shershay la fam</I>. Don't sound like Injun talk. An' he wants +to see me in fifteen minutes, does he? Maybe, now, he'll bear watchin' +after all." +</P> + +<P> +At the time appointed Loudon entered the Judge's office. The Judge, +smoking a long cigar, his feet on the table, waved Loudon to a chair. +Loudon unobtrusively hitched his six-shooter into easy drawing position +as he sat down. He watched the Judge like a cat. The Judge smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Friend," he said, "you may relax. It's quite too hot to look for +trouble where none is. My intentions are of the friendliest. Quite +recently there have come to my ears several important bits of +information. Among other interesting facts, I am told that Sheriff +Block has sworn in twelve deputies for the purpose of arresting one +Thomas Loudon, lately employed by the Bar S ranch, but working at +present for the Flying M in Sunset County. +</P> + +<P> +"The man Loudon is alleged to have committed divers crimes, ranging in +their heinousness from rustling and assault with murderous intent, to +simple assault and battery. Thomas Loudon is supposed to have returned +to the Flying M, but the worthy sheriff has in some manner gained the +impression that the fugitive is still within the confines of Fort Creek +County. Hence the dozen deputies." +</P> + +<P> +The Judge paused. Loudon leaned back in his chair, crossed one leg +over the other, and rolled a cigarette. He realized now that Judge +Allison was unreservedly his friend. +</P> + +<P> +"It is only a question of time," continued the Judge, "when a batch of +these deputies will ride into Marysville. If Thomas Loudon were in +Marysville at present, and if I were in his boots, I should saddle my +horse and seek refuge in parts unknown—for a time at least. I +understand that Thomas Loudon is taking steps in a certain matter that +will, if he is successful, criminally involve large and powerful +interests. If Thomas Loudon is a man of parts and wisdom he will take +his steps with all speed. +</P> + +<P> +"Evidence is evidence, and the more there is of it, and the stronger it +is, and the sooner it is brought forward, the better. For the better +information of Thomas Loudon, I will say that, under the laws of this +territory, a warrant issued by any judge may be withdrawn by that judge +at his discretion. For instance, should Thomas Loudon present evidence +tending to discredit the individuals swearing out the warrant against +him, said warrant would stand an excellent chance of being immediately +annulled. Do I make myself clear?" +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't be clearer," Loudon said, staring up at the ceiling. "I'll +bet Tom Loudon would be a heap grateful to yuh if he could 'a' heard +what yuh had to say." +</P> + +<P> +"Doubtless—doubtless. I trust some day to make the gentleman's +acquaintance. As I was saying, these deputies may arrive at any time. +I do not believe they will come before to-morrow at the earliest. Yet +one can never tell. Parts unknown are the best health resorts on earth +at times like these." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're shore whistlin', Judge. I guess we'll pull our freight this +afternoon or to-night." +</P> + +<P> +When Loudon informed Laguerre in the privacy of their room of what the +Judge had said, the swarthy man slapped his leg and laughed aloud. +</P> + +<P> +"By Gar!" he exclaimed. "By Gar! Dat ees damn fonny!" Then, in a +lower tone, he added, "She shore one good feller. Wat was dose word +she say—dose fonny word you not know w'at dey mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Shershay la fam</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Cherchez la femme</I>, huh? Dat ees <I>Franįais</I>. Un it mean, 'Fin' de +woman.'" +</P> + +<P> +"'Find the woman'! I'd like to know what findin' the woman's got to do +with it." +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno. But dat's w'at de word mean, all right. W'at I wan' for +know ees how de Judge she know so much 'bout you. She issue de +warran', un now she not follow eet up. I do not understan', me." +</P> + +<P> +"Me neither. Lend me yore knife, Telescope, will yuh? Yores is +sharper'n mine, an' I got to cut some leather offen my chaps an' make +me a new heel. I'll prob'ly have time to make me a whole new pair o' +boots an' a saddle before Johnny an' Chuck drift in. Which they're the +slowest pair of bandits livin'. We'll give 'em till daylight +to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +Marysville, whatever opinions it may have held concerning the shooting +affray, did not openly disapprove. No one came forward to take up the +quarrel of the Maxson brothers. +</P> + +<P> +As to Archer, he sat alone in front of his dance hall. Loudon +perceived, in the course of a casual stroll, that the man wore his +spurs, and that two of the horses in the corral were saddled and +bridled. He also noted that the five Barred Twin Diamond horses were +still in the corral. He dropped in at the Judge's office. +</P> + +<P> +"Judge," said Loudon, "it just struck me that somebody might want to +buy that sorrel hoss o' yores. Yuh see, I've taken quite a fancy to +that hoss. I might want to buy him myself some day. Would yuh mind +hangin' on to him till I come back from where I'm goin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"So that's how the wind blows?" the Judge said, disgustedly. "I might +have known it, too. He was so cheap. Well, Mr. Franklin, you may rest +assured that the sorrel horse remains in my possession until your +return. Confound it all, I hate to part with him! He's a good horse." +</P> + +<P> +"He's all that. But maybe, now, yore keepin' him could be arranged if +you like him so much. I might not want him so bad after all." +</P> + +<P> +"Corruption, corruption!" exclaimed Judge Allison, violently winking +his right eye. "Would you bribe the bench, Mr. Franklin? No, not +another word, sir. We are drawing a trifle ahead of our subject. Let +me impress upon you the necessity for prompt action. I should make my +departure before sunset, if I were you." +</P> + +<P> +"Deputies?" +</P> + +<P> +"As to them, I cannot say," said the Judge, shaking his head, "but I am +of the opinion that Marysville will not be a health resort to-night. +The wicked walk in the darkness, you know, and not half-an-hour ago I +heard something that makes me quite positive that the said evildoers +will endeavour to walk to some purpose this evening. I was on the +point of sending you warning when you came in." +</P> + +<P> +"Now that's right friendly of yuh, Judge. Me an' my friend won't +forget it. But ain't there just some chance o' these here evildoers +a-comin' to see you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have a friend or two here myself. I told you this morning that I +stand in no danger. I have had no reason to change my opinion." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, you know best. I guess Telescope an' me'll pull our +freight instanter. We won't wait for my friends. When they come would +yuh mind tellin' 'em we've gone to Damson?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be delighted. Who are your friends?" +</P> + +<P> +"Johnny Ramsay o' the Cross-in-a-box an' Chuck Morgan o' the Bar S." +</P> + +<P> +"'Chuck Morgan.' Well do I know the gentleman. I fined him +twenty-five dollars last fall for riding his horse into Billy West's +saloon, roping the stove, and trying to drag it through the doorway." +</P> + +<P> +"That's Chuck all over! But he didn't tell the Bar S nothin' about a +fine." +</P> + +<P> +"The Bar S! What are you talking about? You're from the southern +ranges, and I'd advise you not to forget it." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't again," Loudon grinned. "So long, Judge, an' we're obliged to +yuh for——" +</P> + +<P> +"For nothing! For nothing! And don't forget that either. Now +good-bye and good luck." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon and Laguerre, having paid their bill, left the hotel by the back +way. A pale little man, one of the dance-hall fiddlers, was flirting +with the cook at the kitchen doorway. When the two men appeared, +carrying their saddles and rifles, the pale one glided swiftly around +the corner of the house. +</P> + +<P> +"See that?" muttered Loudon, cinching up rapidly. +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"—— 'em!" he whispered. "Hope dey follow! By Gar! I do, me!" +</P> + +<P> +"No use tryin' to slide out past the corral now," said Loudon. "We +might as well use Main Street." +</P> + +<P> +They were glad of their decision. They rode into Main Street just in +time to see Archer and a companion turning the corner of the dance +hall. The Flying M men headed northward. The other two turned their +horses' heads to the south. +</P> + +<P> +Where Main Street became the trail, Loudon and Laguerre swung eastward +and loped steadily for several miles. When their shadows were long in +front of them they climbed the reverse slope of a little hill. +</P> + +<P> +Picketing their horses below the crest they lay down behind an outcrop +and watched the back trail. Within thirty minutes appeared two dots on +a ridge three miles distant. +</P> + +<P> +"Just like wolves, ain't they?" chuckled Loudon, and wriggled backward. +</P> + +<P> +"We weel bushwhack dem here, huh?" growled Laguerre. "Eet ees de good +plass. Dey weel pass on our trail not two hundred yard away. We geet +dem easy." +</P> + +<P> +"No, not yet, Telescope," said Loudon. "It ain't necessary, anyhow. +We'll ride on till it gets dark. Then we'll light a fire an' vamose, +an' leave them holdin' the bag." +</P> + +<P> +"Dat ees all right," Laguerre said, "but keelin' ees better. W'y not? +No one weel know. Un eef dey do, w'at mattair? Dey are de teenhorn. +We weel have dat all prove'. I say, keel dem, me." +</P> + +<P> +Unconsciously Laguerre fingered the handle of his skinning-knife. +Loudon laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"C'mon," he said. "There'll be enough o' killin' before this job's +over." +</P> + +<P> +Grumbling, for to him an ambush was such a ridiculously simple method +of disposing of two enemies, Laguerre followed his comrade. They rode +till night came on. Then, in the middle of a mile-wide flat, where +cottonwoods grew beside a tiny creek, they dismounted and loosened +cinches. +</P> + +<P> +Hobbled, their bridles off, the horses grazed. Laguerre, still +protesting, made the fire. He built it cunningly, after the Indian +manner, with an arrangement of sticks to leeward, so that it would burn +slowly and for a long time. +</P> + +<P> +"Dere," said Laguerre, as the flames bit and took hold, "dat weel fool +dem. But I t'ink de Winchestair be de bes' t'ing, me." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon laughed as he swung into the saddle. Inwardly he quite agreed +with Laguerre in the matter of an ambush. Enemies should be crushed as +expeditiously and with as little danger to one's self as possible. Yet +Loudon was too humanly normal to practise the doctrine in all its +ruthlessness. To do that one must be either a great general or a +savage. Laguerre was not abnormal, but he was half Indian, and at +times he became wholly one. This was one of the times. +</P> + +<P> +For three miles the two men rode in the creek water, then, guided by +the stars, they headed southwest. Toward midnight they came upon a +well-marked trail. They knew it could be none other than the trail to +Blossom, and they turned into it. Under the spell of the horses' +steady walk-along Laguerre became reminiscent. +</P> + +<P> +"De ole tam, dey are wit' me now, my frien'," he observed, "but I do +not feel varree bad, me. I am on de move. Un soon dere weel be beeg +fight. I have been de scout, I have leeve wit' Enjun, I have hunt all +t'ing', un I tell you, Tom, dere ees nothin' like huntin' de man. Dat +mak' me feel fine. +</P> + +<P> +"By Gar! w'en I was young man een Blackfoot camp, I was go ovair to de +Assiniboine, un I run off seex pony un geet two scalp. Dat mak' me +beeg man wit' de Blackfoot. Dey say my medicine was good, un eet was +good, by Gar! Eet was de Winchestair. De Assiniboine w'at chase me +was surprise'. Dey not know de Winchestair den. Deir gun all +single-shot." +</P> + +<P> +And Laguerre laughed at this recollection of aboriginal amazement. +Loudon made no comment. The laughter died in a grunt. The harsh voice +resumed: +</P> + +<P> +"By Gar! I bless de luck dat Scotty sen' me wit' you. I mean for +queet un go 'way wit' you like I tol' you, un w'en dem horse t'ief run +off de pony, I know I can not queet. I can not leave Scotty like dat. +She ees good frien' to me. But now I go 'way like I wan', un I work +for Scotty, too. I am almost satisfy. But at de las' I weel go 'way. +De ole tam, dey weel mak' me. I mus' fin' Pony George before de en'." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe he's dead," suggested Loudon, moved to cheer up his friend. +</P> + +<P> +"No, she ees not dead. She 'live yet. I can not tell you how I know. +I not know how myself, me. But I know. Somew'ere she wait teel I +come. Un I weel come. I weel come. Den, w'en hees hair ees on my +bridle, I weel be complete satisfy, un I weel work on de ranch steady. +I not care w'at happen den." +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre fell silent. His reminiscent mood passed on to his comrade. +Since leaving the Bend the days had been so crowded that Loudon had had +no time to think of anything save the work in hand. But now the +tension had slackened, the old days came back to Loudon, and he thought +of the girl he had once loved. +</P> + +<P> +He saw her as he used to see her on their rides together along the Lazy +River; he saw her swinging in the hammock on the porch of the Bar S +ranch house; he saw her smiling at him from the doorway of the room in +the Burr house; and he saw her dark eyes with the hurt look in them, +her shaking shoulders when she turned sidewise in the chair and wept, +her blindly swaying figure when she stumbled from the room. All these +things he saw on the screen of his mind. +</P> + +<P> +Apparently she loved him. But was the semblance the reality? It was +all very well for Mrs. Burr to talk about coquettes. Kate Saltoun had +played with him, had led him on to propose, and then at the end had +with contumely and scorn refused him. His sense of injury had so +developed that his brain had come to dwell more on the contumely and +the scorn than it did on the refusal. Mankind is apt to lose sight of +the main issue and to magnify minor events till at last the latter +completely overshadow the former. +</P> + +<P> +"It ain't possible," reasoned Loudon, "to care for a girl that called +yuh a ignorant puncher. Some day she might get mad an' call yuh that +again, an' then where'd yuh be? Wouldn't yuh look nice with a wife +that knowed she was better'n you an' told yuh so whenever she felt like +it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, ain't she better'n you?" queried the honest voice of Inner +Consciousness. +</P> + +<P> +"She's lots better," admitted Innate Stubbornness. "But she wants to +keep still about it." +</P> + +<P> +"An' she's shore a razzle-dazzler in looks, ain't she?" persisted Inner +Consciousness. "An' her ways have changed a lot. An' she acts like +she likes yuh. Lately yuh been kind o' missin' her some yoreself, +ain't yuh? Ain't yuh, huh? Be kind o' nice to have her round right +along, wouldn't it? Shore it would. Which bein' so, don't yuh guess +Mis' Burr knows what she's talkin' about? Why can't yuh have sense an' +take the lady's advice?" +</P> + +<P> +"I won't be drove," insisted Innate Stubbornness. "I won't be drove, +an' that's whatever." +</P> + +<P> +Inner Consciousness immediately curled up and went to sleep. It had +recognized the futility of arguing with Innate Stubbornness. Loudon +wondered why he could no longer think connectedly. He gave up trying. +</P> + +<P> +When day broke, the two men left the trail and rode southward. They +were tired, but they did not dare halt. In the middle of the +afternoon, emerging from a draw, they saw the rails of the Great +Western Railroad a hundred yards ahead. They rode westward along the +line and reached Damson an hour later. +</P> + +<P> +Two saloons, a blacksmith shop, three houses, the station, and a +water-tank, all huddling on the flanks of a railroad corral, made up +the town of Damson. It was an unlovely place, and, to complete the +effect, a dust-devil received them with open arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like that corral had been used lately," observed Loudon between +coughs. +</P> + +<P> +"Bunch o' pony stay dere tree-four day, two week ago, mabbeso," +qualified Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +They dismounted and entered the cracked and peeling station. The +agent, a pale, flat-chested young man, responded readily to Loudon's +inquiries. +</P> + +<P> +"Surely," he said, "about two weeks ago"—riffling duplicate +way-bills—"yep, on the seventeenth, Bill Archer shipped ninety-five +head Barred Twin Diamond hosses to Cram an' Docket in Piegan City. The +two Maxson boys an' a feller they called Rudd was with Archer. Nope, +no trouble at all. Eastbound? She's five hours late. Due maybe in an +hour an' a half if she don't lose some more. Yep, I'll set the board +against her." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +When Mr. Cram, senior member of the great horse-dealing firm of Cram & +Docket, came down to his office in the morning, Tom Loudon was sitting +on the office-steps, an expression of keenest satisfaction on his +sunburnt, cinder-grimed face. He had spent the greater part of the +preceding two hours strolling among the corrals of Cram & Docket. Mr. +Cram acknowledged by a curt nod the greeting of Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"I have all the men I can use," began Mr. Cram, gruffly, "and——" +</P> + +<P> +"T'sall right," interrupted Loudon. "I ain't needin' a job this +mornin'. I just thought I'd tell yuh that there's ninety-five head o' +stolen hosses in number eight corral." +</P> + +<P> +"Wha-what?" gasped Mr. Cram. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurts, don't it? Shouldn't wonder. Yes, sir, them ninety-five Barred +Twin Diamonds yuh bought offen Bill Archer o' Marysville an' shipped +from Damson was all stole from Scotty Mackenzie's Flying M ranch up +north near Paradise Bend, in the Dogsoldier valley." +</P> + +<P> +"Why—why—I don't understand," stuttered Mr. Cram. "I don't believe a +word of it." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Cram became suddenly aware of the exceeding chilliness in a pair of +gray eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Meanin' how?" queried Loudon, softly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of course, I believe you're acting in good faith, but—— Oh, +come inside." +</P> + +<P> +"No need. My train's due in thirty minutes. Scotty Mackenzie an' his +foreman Doubleday will come down here an' prove ownership in about a +week or so." +</P> + +<P> +"But I've just sold that bunch to a firm in Omaha!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh won't ship 'em. Yuh see, I thought o' yore sellin' 'em, an' I +woke up Judge Curran at six o'clock an' got him to issue a injunction +against yore shippin' 'em. So I guess yuh'll keep 'em till Scotty +comes. Yep, I guess yuh will, Mr. Cram. See, here comes the marshal +now. Looks like that white paper he's got might be the injunction, +don't it?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE JUDGE'S OFFICE +</H4> + +<P> +Loudon dropped off the train at Damson into the arms of Johnny Ramsay +and Chuck Morgan. Bawling "Pop goes the weasel" they fell upon him, +and the three danced upon the platform till a board broke and Chuck +Morgan fell down. +</P> + +<P> +Then, in company with the more sedate Laguerre, they jingled across the +street to one of the saloons. An hour later they were riding +northward, and Loudon was telling Johnny and Chuck what had occurred. +</P> + +<P> +"O' course, just my luck!" complained Johnny. "All done, an' I don't +have a look-in. It's all the fault o' that criminal Chuck Morgan. +He's out on Cow Creek, an' I have to comb the range for him." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh act like I done it a-purpose!" barked Chuck. "O' course I knowed +yuh was comin'! That's why I went out there. Think I'm a mind-reader?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh wouldn't know a mind if yuh seen one," retorted Johnny. "How +could yuh, not ownin' such a thing yoreself? Hey! Don't kick my +cayuse! He's a orphan. Go on, Tom, tell us some more about Archer." +</P> + +<P> +The four men did not push their mounts. There was no necessity for +haste, and they spent the following afternoon playing cards in a draw +five miles out of Marysville. When the sun had set, they rode onward. +</P> + +<P> +Separating at the edge of the town, that their arrival might be +unremarked, they met in the rear of Judge Allison's corral. Alone, +Loudon approached the house on foot. There was a light in the office. +He rapped on the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in," called the Judge. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon pushed open the door. For an instant he glimpsed the fat figure +of the Judge and beyond him the surprised faces of Archer and Sheriff +Block, and then Archer's hand flung sidewise and knocked over the lamp. +Loudon's gun was out, but he did not dare fire for fear of hitting the +Judge. +</P> + +<P> +<I>Bang</I>! A tongue of flame spat past Loudon's chin. Burning +powder-grains singed his neck. A hard object smote him violently in +the pit of the stomach and knocked the wind out of him. Loudon fell +flat on his back. He was dimly conscious that somebody, in leaping +over him, stepped on his face, and that a horse had broken into the +Judge's office and was kicking the furniture to pieces. +</P> + +<P> +"Whatsa matter? Whatsa matter?" demanded Johnny Ramsay, stooping over +the prostrate Loudon. "Who plugged yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah—ugh—ugh—I—ca—ugh—can't—ugh—can't b-b-breathe!" gasped +Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +Johnny began to tear open his friend's shirt. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's he hit?" queried Chuck Morgan, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre squatted down and struck a match. None of the three paid the +slightest attention to the terrific uproar in the office of the Judge. +</P> + +<P> +<I>Smash</I>! A table skittered across the room and brought up against the +wall. +</P> + +<P> +<I>Thud</I>! <I>Bump</I>! <I>Crash</I>! A chair was resolved into its component +parts. The horse lay down on his back and rolled to the accompaniment +of falling books, pictures, and finally the bookcase. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon suddenly regained his breath and, to the astonishment of his +comrades who believed him to be seriously wounded, scrambled to his +feet and plunged through the doorway into the office. Apparently the +horse had gathered a friend unto himself and both animals were striving +to kick their way through the wall. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon felt his way across the wreckage and laid hold of a waving leg. +He worked his way up that leg, and was kicked three times in the +process, but at last his clawing fingers found a throat—a too fat +throat. Loudon, realizing his mistake, groped purposefully for thirty +seconds, and then closed his hands round another neck and exerted +pressure. The tumult stilled. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, friend," huskily breathed the Judge's voice. "Choke him +some more, but don't quite strangle him." +</P> + +<P> +The Judge wriggled to his feet, and Loudon choked his squirming victim +almost into unconsciousness. A match crackled and flared. By its +flickering light were revealed Loudon kneeling on Archer's chest, +Archer himself purple in the face, the Judge, naked to the waist and +panting like a mogul's air-pump, and in the background the intensely +interested faces of Loudon's three friends. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon eased the pressure of his fingers, and Archer breathed again. +Eyes rolling in fright, the Judge's negro peered around the door-jamb. +His master ordered him to fetch a lamp. +</P> + +<P> +"Did the sheriff bring any deputies with him?" inquired Loudon, +hopefully. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a deputy," replied the Judge. +</P> + +<P> +"That's tough. Well, maybe we'll find 'em later. No use chasin' the +sheriff anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +When the lamp arrived, Loudon introduced his friends. The Judge shook +hands cordially, and recalled himself to Chuck Morgan's memory in a way +to make that gentleman grin. One could not help but like Judge Allison +even if he did fine one on occasion. His pink nakedness covered by a +new frock coat, the Judge sat down on the overturned bookcase. +</P> + +<P> +Came a knock then at the door, and the voice of the marshal requesting +news of the Judge's welfare. The marshal entered and gazed about him +with incurious eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought mebbe yuh was plugged or somethin', Judge," announced the +marshal. "Need me?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Jim," replied the Judge. "A gun went off by accident, and I and +my friends have been taking a little exercise. Have you see the +sheriff anywhere in the vicinity?" +</P> + +<P> +"I seen him leavin' the vicinity as fast as his hoss could carry him. +If he keeps on a-goin' at the rate he was travellin' an' don't stop +nowheres he'd ought to be in Canada inside o' two days. Some o' yore +friends is outside, Judge. I'll just go tell 'em it's all right. If +yuh want me later I'll be right across the street." +</P> + +<P> +The marshal departed to allay popular anxiety. The Judge smiled. +Archer raised himself on one elbow. +</P> + +<P> +"No use feelin' for yore gun," said Loudon. "I've got it." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'd like to know what yuh wrastled with me for, Judge," +complained Archer. "You an' me's always been friends." +</P> + +<P> +"Friendship ceases when any friend upsets my reading-lamp," countered +the Judge. "You might have set the house in a blaze. It struck me, +you know, that you might possibly leave without explaining your action. +Hence my attempt at forcible restraint. I had no other reason, of +course. What other reason could I have?" +</P> + +<P> +Archer looked his unbelief. The Judge winked at Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Judge," said Loudon, "in the corrals o' Cram an' Docket in Piegan City +are ninety-five head o' Barred Twin Diamond hosses, all stole from the +Flyin' M ranch up near Paradise Bend. Them hosses was shipped from +Damson by Bill Archer here, the two Maxson boys, an' Rudd o' the 88. +</P> + +<P> +"The five hosses in Archer's corral an' the one he sold you was in the +stolen bunch, too. My friend, Telescope Laguerre, an' I can swear to a +few of 'em, an' any expert could tell yuh the brand was altered from +the Flyin' M. How about it, Archer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothin' to say," replied Archer, defiantly. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a serious charge," murmured Judge Allison. "Do you wish me to +issue warrants for Archer and the others, Mr. Franklin?" +</P> + +<P> +"Issue all the —— warrants yo're a mind to!" cried Archer. "I ain't +talkin'!" +</P> + +<P> +"Now look here," said Loudon. "Turn yore tongue loose an' it won't go +so hard with yuh. We know who's behind yuh. What's the use o' yore +swingin' for them? Have sense, man. There's enough evidence against +yuh to lynch yuh forty times." +</P> + +<P> +"Bring on yore bale o' rope," snarled Archer. "I ain't worryin' none. +If yuh know who's behind me, what's the use o' askin' me anythin'?" +</P> + +<P> +The contumacious Archer had the rights of the matter, and Loudon +realized it. +</P> + +<P> +"We'd ought to lynch him," declared Johnny Ramsay with conviction. +</P> + +<P> +"Not in Marysville, young man," said the Judge. "Having, as it were, +been the means of preventing Archer's escape, I can not allow him to be +hung without due process of law. I shall be delighted to commit him to +the calaboose. Archer, you confounded rascal, I shall attach your +dance hall until I recover the price of that horse you sold me! I +thought you were a friend of mine, and you make me a receiver of stolen +property. The best animal I ever bought, too. Damit, sir! I shall +try you separately for each horse!" +</P> + +<P> +"He might mebbe escape or somethin'," dubiously suggested Chuck Morgan. +</P> + +<P> +"Chuck, the individuals whom I commit do not escape," the Judge said, +severely. "And in the case of Archer I shall take particular pains to +see that he does not break jail. Have no doubts on that score." +</P> + +<P> +He broke off and cursed Archer with wholly unjudicial fervour. +</P> + +<P> +"Damit!" he continued. "If I hadn't known that the rascal wanted the +horse in order to conceal evidence, I'd have sold it back to him +to-night. The five Barred Twin Diamond horses in his corral are no +longer there. They vanished yesterday. But the sorrel won't vanish. +He'll stay right in my corral till wanted. Gentlemen, last night +someone endeavoured to steal him. Luckily, I was watching and with a +couple of shots I drove off the would-be thief. +</P> + +<P> +"To-night Archer and the sheriff came to me and wished to buy the +animal. I refused, and they were endeavouring to persuade me when you +entered, Mr. Franklin. By the way, if you run across Thomas Loudon, +you might tell him that the warrant issued for him has been quashed. +Tell him that I hope to meet him in the not-too-distant future. +Understand—in the future? I shall see that the Maxson boys are put +under arrest, and a warrant issued for Rudd." +</P> + +<P> +"No need of issuin' one for him," said Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Probably not. Still, the legal formalities must be observed." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, you've got the right idea, Judge. Well, I guess we might as +well be weavin' along. So long, Judge." +</P> + +<P> +"So long, Mr. Franklin. So long, gentlemen. On your way out I wish +you'd request the marshal to step in." +</P> + +<P> +"Wat ees next?" inquired Laguerre, when the four were in the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"Somebody's got to go north an' notify Scotty," replied Loudon. "You +an' I'll scamper round the Lazy River country an' see what we can dig +up." +</P> + +<P> +"I know just what's comin'!" exclaimed Johnny Ramsay, disgustedly. +"Chuck an' me are elected to travel while you an' Telescope have all +the fun. Yo're glommin' all the excitement. It ain't right." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't fret none, Johnny-jump-up," grinned Loudon. "Yuh'll have all +the excitement on the map when yuh come back with Scotty Mackenzie an' +the Flyin' M outfit. What do yuh s'pose'll happen when we go bulgin' +out to the 88 to grab Rudd? Yuh don't think there won't be a battle, +do yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"There'll be a skirmish, anyway, before we get back," complained +Johnny, "or I don't know you." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't help that, can I? If some 88 sport tries to ventilate me an' +Telescope we can't wait for you fellahs. So that's the how of it. You +an' Chuck slide up to the Flyin' M, an' when yuh come back yuh'll find +Telescope an' me waitin' for yuh at the Cross-in-a-box. See?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I see all right," grunted Chuck Morgan. "I see yo're a hawg, Tom. +All yuh need is bristles. Tell yuh what, send Johnny, an' let me stay +with you. Don't need two fellers to carry one little message." +</P> + +<P> +"Not on yore life!" cried the indignant Johnny. "Send Chuck by +himself. I don't wanna go. I never did like the climate up on the +Dogsoldier nohow. It ain't healthy, an' it'll make me sick or +somethin'. An' I ain't a-goin' to risk my valuable health for no man. +No, sir, little Johnny Ramsay ain't goin' to." +</P> + +<P> +"When yuh see Scotty," said Loudon, totally unmindful of Johnny's +tirade, "tell him to bring four or five o' the boys from the Bend +besides the reg'lar outfit. He'll want to leave a couple at the ranch. +With us four that'll be fifteen or sixteen men." +</P> + +<P> +"We're elected all right, Chuck," said Johnny, mournfully. +</P> + +<P> +"An' don't get rambunctious an' ride through Farewell," pursued Loudon. +"Ride round it—ride 'way round it." +</P> + +<P> +"An' be sure an' wrap up our tootsies good an' warm every night," +contributed Chuck Morgan. +</P> + +<P> +"An' take our soothin' sirup before each meal," added Johnny Ramsay. +"Lend us yore teethin' ring, Tom. I done forgot mine, an' I'm plumb +shore that careless infant, Chuck, has lost his." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +UNDER THE RIDGE +</H4> + +<P> +At day's end, some forty-eight hours after parting with Johnny Ramsay +and Chuck Morgan, Loudon and Laguerre rode up to the Bar S line-camp on +Pack-saddle Creek. Hockling and Red Kane were unsaddling. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, rustler!" bawled Red Kane. "Don't yuh know no better'n to come +fussin' round me when I'm broke? There's two hundred dollars reward +for yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy, Red," said Loudon, grinning. "Hello, Hock. Shake hands with +my friend, Mr. Laguerre. Telescope, these here bandits are Mr. +Hockling an' Mr. Kane—Red for short. Boys, did I hear yuh say two +hundred? Well, that shore makes me plumb ashamed. A thousand ain't +none too much for a road-agent like me." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're right it ain't," laughed Hockling. "But say, Tom, no jokin', +yesterday Red an' me cut the trail o' six deputies—yeah, some o' that +Farewell crowd—an' they was a-huntin' for yuh. It was them told us +about the reward." +</P> + +<P> +"Where'd yuh meet 'em?" questioned Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Down on the Lazy. They was ridin' east." +</P> + +<P> +"Headin' for the Cross-in-a-box likely." +</P> + +<P> +"Dunno as they'll go that far. From what they said I guess now they +think yo're either on this range or holin' out in the Fryin' Pans. Red +asked 'em didn't they need some more men—said six gents didn't seem +none too plenteous for the job. They got kind o' mad, but they managed +to hawg-tie their tempers. I dunno why." +</P> + +<P> +"No, yuh don't!" chuckled Red Kane. "Why, gents, Hock had his +Winchester across his horn an' was a-coverin' 'em the whole time. +Quarrelsome feller, that Hock. Just as soon shoot yuh as say howdy." +</P> + +<P> +"I never did like that Farewell gang," Hockling explained, +shamefacedly. "They always remind me o' kyotes, rattlers, an' such. +Anyway, Tom, the outfit's with yuh. If them fellers jump yuh, Farewell +will see some fun. Speakin' o' fun, Farewell ain't knucklin' to Block +any too much lately. Mike Flynn an' Buck Simpson had words the other +day, an' Buck got fourteen buckshot in his leg. He was lucky he didn't +lose his foot. Buck bein' a plumb favouryte o' the sheriff, Block come +bulgin' down to arrest Mike, an' Mike he stood off the sheriff with a +Winchester, an' cussed him to hellenback, an' the sheriff didn't arrest +him. Now Mike's friends take turns livin' with him, an' keepin' guard +while he sleeps. Dunno how it'll end. Be a blowoff mighty soon, I +guess." +</P> + +<P> +"You bet," concurred Loudon. "Seen anythin' o' Marvin or Rudd lately?" +</P> + +<P> +"Seen Rudd down near Box Hill two days ago. He was over on our side +the creek. Said he was huntin' strays. I knowed he was lyin', an' I +watched him from the top o' Box Hill till he went back." +</P> + +<P> +"Yeah," cried Red Kane, busy at the cooking-fire, "Hock come in that +night a-cussin' an' a-swearin' 'cause Rudd hadn't given him a chance to +finish what Cap'n Burr started. Talked real brutal 'bout Rudd, Hock +did. Me, I like the 88 outfit. They're real gentle little woolly +lambs, an' some day when I ain't got nothin' else to do I'm goin' over +there with a rifle an' make 'em a heap gentler." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh'll have the chance before a great while," Loudon said, seriously. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it them cows we lost?" inquired Hockling, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell yuh yet awhile," replied Loudon. "Just keep yore mouths +shut an' be ready." +</P> + +<P> +"Them's the pleasantest words I've heard in years," stated Red Kane. +"Grub pile, folks. Come an' get it." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon and Laguerre spent the night at the line-camp. In the morning +they recrossed the creek. They rode with Winchesters across their +laps, and they took advantage of every bit of cover the broken country +afforded. Occasionally they halted, and one or the other went forward +on foot and spied out from ridge-crest or knoll-top the line of advance. +</P> + +<P> +By ten o'clock they had worked south to the foot of a plateau-like +ridge opposite Box Hill and about a mile from the creek. For the tenth +time that morning Loudon dismounted. He sweated up the incline, panted +across the broad flat top of the ridge, and plumped himself down behind +an outcrop on the edge of the reverse slope. He took off his hat, +poked his head past the ragged corner of the rock, and peered down into +a wide-bottomed draw. +</P> + +<P> +What he saw was sufficiently amazing. Halfway down the reverse slope, +where a stunted pine grew beside a boulder, a man lay on his stomach. +Loudon could see only his legs. The branches of the pine concealed the +upper half of his body. At the bottom of the slope, outlined against a +thicket of red sumac, Kate Saltoun, mounted on a black horse, was +talking to the puncher Rudd. +</P> + +<P> +The duplicity of woman! Loudon's first thought was that Kate was at +her old-time tricks—flirting again. His second was that she was +aiding the 88 in their nefarious practices. +</P> + +<P> +What did it mean? Loudon, his eyes hard as gray flint, edged +noiselessly backward, and sat up behind the outcrop. He signalled +Laguerre by placing two fingers on his lips, pointing over his +shoulder, and holding up one finger twice. +</P> + +<P> +Then Loudon flattened his body at the corner of the outcrop, shoved his +rule forward, and covered Rudd. Forefinger on trigger, thumb ready to +cock the hammer, he waited. +</P> + +<P> +He could not hear what the two by the sumac bushes were saying. They +were fully a hundred yards distant. But it was evident by the way Kate +leaned forward and tapped her saddle-horn that she was very much in +earnest. Frequently Rudd shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon heard a faint rustle at his side. He turned his head. Laguerre +was crawling into position. +</P> + +<P> +"Dunno who that sport under the pine is," whispered Loudon. "You take +him anyhow, an' I'll take Rudd. Get 'em both without a shot. It's a +cinch." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, after a decidedly emphatic shake of Rudd's head, Kate's +figure straightened, and she struck her saddle-horn a sharp blow with +the flat of her hand. It was an action characteristic of Kate. She +always employed it when annoyed. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon smiled grimly. With an impatient tug Kate pulled a white object +from her saddle-pocket and flung it at Rudd. Then she wheeled her +horse on his hindlegs, jumped him ahead, and set off at a tearing run. +</P> + +<P> +Rudd stooped to pick up the fallen white object, and Loudon opened his +mouth to bawl a command when he was forestalled by the watcher under +the pine. +</P> + +<P> +"Hands up!" came in the unmistakable bellow of Marvin, the 88 +range-boss. +</P> + +<P> +Rudd stood up, his hands above his head. The white object lay at his +feet. Kate had halted her horse at Marvin's shout. She turned in her +saddle and looked back. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep a-goin', lady!" yelled Marvin. "You've done enough, you have! +Now you wander, an' be quick about it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up, Marvin!" called Loudon. "You always did talk too much! Keep +yore paws up, Rudd! This ain't nothin' like a rescue for yuh!" +</P> + +<P> +"You know dat feller under de tree?" demanded Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +"Not the way you mean, Telescope," replied Loudon, without removing his +eyes from Rudd. "He's one o' Blakely's gang—their range-boss." +</P> + +<P> +"Geet up on you han's un knees, you feller," instantly ordered +Laguerre, "un move back slow." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon and Laguerre, covering their men, moved down the slope. The 88 +puncher took his defeat well. The light-blue eyes above the snub nose +met Loudon's stare serenely. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're a whizzer," observed Rudd. "I wouldn't play poker with yuh for +a clay farm in Arkinsaw. Yo're too lucky." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a habit I've got," said Loudon. "Now if I was you, Rudd, I'd +lower my left hand nice an' easy, an' I'd sort o' work my gun-belt down +till it slid over my knees, an' I could step out of it." +</P> + +<P> +Rudd complied with this suggestion, and obeyed Loudon's request that he +step rearward a few feet and turn his back. Loudon laid down his rifle +and drew his six-shooter. With his left hand he scooped the belt to +one side and picked up the white object. His eyes told him that it was +a lady's knotted handkerchief, and his fingers that three twenty-dollar +gold pieces were contained therein. Loudon could not have been more +astounded if Rudd had suddenly sprouted two horns and a tail. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye one small drunk an' a new saddle," remarked Rudd, hearing the +clinking of the gold. +</P> + +<P> +"You —— sneak!" snarled Marvin, approaching under convoy of Laguerre. +"I wondered what yuh wanted yore money for this mornin'. I've been +watchin' yuh for the last two weeks. I seen yuh a-comin' back from the +Bar S range three days ago. Tryin' to sell us out, huh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're a liar," retorted Rudd, calmly. "I ain't tellin' nothin' I +know. Not that I know nothin' nohow." +</P> + +<P> +"By ——, gents!" exclaimed Marvin. "I ask yuh as a favour to just +gimme ten minutes barehanded with that tin-horn! Yuh can do what you +like with me after." +</P> + +<P> +"We will anyway," said Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"What is this—a sewin' circle?" Rudd inquired, contemptuously. "I'd +as soon die o' snakebite as be talked to death." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if I was you, Tom Loudon," sneered Marvin, "I'd try to find out +just what Rudd means by meetin' Old Salt's girl. There may be more to +it than——" +</P> + +<P> +"Come round in front here, Marvin," commanded Loudon. "Come all the +way round. That's it. Telescope, will yuh kindly keep an eye on the +other party? Now, Marvin, get down on yore knees. Down, yuh yellow +pup! Yo're a-crowdin' the Gates Ajar so close yuh can hear 'em creak. +Marvin, say, 'I'm ashamed o' myself, an' I take it back, an' I didn't +mean nothin' nohow.' Say it out real loud." +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, his face a mask of venomous hate, Marvin repeated the words. +</P> + +<P> +"Get up, an' face round," continued Loudon. "No, not so close to Rudd. +About five yards to his right, so yuh won't be tempted." +</P> + +<P> +For the past two minutes Loudon had been aware of Kate's approach. But +he did not turn his head even when she halted her horse almost beside +him. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you intend doing with these men, Tom?" she inquired, a +perceptible pause between the last two words of the sentence. +</P> + +<P> +"Take 'em to the Cross-in-a-box," replied Loudon, without looking at +her. "They'll hang—in time." +</P> + +<P> +"May I have a few words alone with you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore, ma'am, shore. I guess two won't be too many to watch, +Telescope." +</P> + +<P> +He walked at Kate's stirrup till they were out of earshot. Then he +turned and looked up into her face in silence. She gazed at him with a +curious, questioning look in her black eyes. +</P> + +<P> +She had become thinner since their last meeting. But her lips were as +red as ever. She had lost none of her beauty. Loudon raised his hand. +In the open palm was the knotted bit of linen containing the gold +pieces. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's yore handkerchief," said he. +</P> + +<P> +Kate made no move to take it. Instead, she continued to look at him, a +crooked little smile on her lips. Loudon was the first to lower his +gaze. His arm dropped to his side. +</P> + +<P> +"You are trying to be disagreeable," said Kate, "and you succeed in +being foolish. The money belongs to that man. He earned it, and it's +his." +</P> + +<P> +"It won't do him any good," muttered Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"That depends on how he spends it." +</P> + +<P> +"He'll never live to spend it." +</P> + +<P> +"You're mistaken. You will let him go." +</P> + +<P> +"That's likely, that is!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's quite likely. In fact, it's a certainty. You will let Rudd go." +</P> + +<P> +"Djuh know he's a hoss thief? Do yuh? I've got proof. He's one o' +the bunch stole Scotty's hosses. An' yuh want me to let him go?" +</P> + +<P> +"I want you to let him go." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I won't." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, Tom, listen to me, please. And take off that horrid, stubborn +expression. You look exactly like a sulky child. There, that's much +better. Don't smile if it hurts you, grumpy. There, I knew it would +come. Oh, it's gone again. Well, anyhow, you haven't forgotten how to +smile, and that's a blessing." +</P> + +<P> +"I hate to hurry yuh, but——" +</P> + +<P> +"I know what a bore it is to be compelled to listen to me, but you'll +have to endure the ordeal. Listen, if it hadn't been for me Rudd +wouldn't have been here to-day, and you wouldn't have caught him." +</P> + +<P> +"We'd have caught him later." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps you wouldn't. At any rate, he'd probably have had a chance to +make a fight. As it is, he was caught like a rat in a trap. And if it +wasn't for me he wouldn't be in the trap." +</P> + +<P> +"Marvin would 'a' got him if we didn't." +</P> + +<P> +"Marvin has nothing to do with it. The fact remains that I am to blame +for the capture of Rudd." +</P> + +<P> +"We're much obliged to yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"That isn't worthy of you, Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"I beg yore pardon. I was too quick." +</P> + +<P> +"Granted. You were. Since I am to blame, I can do no less than see +that he goes free." +</P> + +<P> +"It's no use a-talkin'. He don't go free." +</P> + +<P> +"He will—if I have to keep you here till doomsday. Listen, did you +remark the sublime manner in which Marvin jumped at conclusions? You +did. Exactly." +</P> + +<P> +"I knowed he was wrong, o' course." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you did. How did you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well—I—knowed you." +</P> + +<P> +To Loudon's astonishment Kate burst into shrill laughter. +</P> + +<P> +"For this certificate of good character I thank you," said she, wiping +her eyes. "Heavens, if you hadn't made me laugh I'd have gone off into +hysterics! What odd minds you men have. Upon my word, I—but no +matter. Marvin has no grounds for saying that Rudd tried to sell out +the 88. I ought to know. I did my best to pump him, but I couldn't +get a word out of him. He is a clam. I worked so hard, too. It made +me frightfully angry." +</P> + +<P> +"So that was it! I know yuh was mad about somethin' when yuh banged +yore horn thataway an' throwed that handkerchief at him. +But—but—say, what was the money for, anyhow?" +</P> + +<P> +"That I cannot tell you. I am endeavouring at the present moment to +point out the difference between Marvin and Rudd. Marvin +thought—various things, while Rudd, with good reason for believing +that I had betrayed him—it really had a suspicious look about it, you +know—uttered no word of reproach." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, just 'cause he acts like a white man, is that any reason for +lettin' him go?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is my reason for standing by him." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you've stood by him. Yuh can't do more. An' it ain't done a +bit of good." +</P> + +<P> +"If you knew what he did you'd let him go." +</P> + +<P> +"I do know. That's why I'm freezin' to him." +</P> + +<P> +"If you knew what he did for—for me," patiently persisted Kate, "you'd +let him go." +</P> + +<P> +"What did he do for you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell you. Take my word for it, can't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"How can I? He's a hoss thief." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, he was leaving this country. He's quitting the 88 for good. +If he had gotten away he'd never have troubled again the Lazy or +Dogsoldier ranches. What, then, will you gain by hanging him?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's the law, Kate—the law of the range. You know that." +</P> + +<P> +"Law! Piecrust! If I told you that Rudd had saved my life at the risk +of his own would you let him go?" +</P> + +<P> +"An' he took money for that?" Disgust was rampant in Loudon's tone. +</P> + +<P> +"The taking part is neither here nor there. Remains the fact of his +saving my life—at the risk of his own, remember. Now will you let him +go? Oh, it's no use asking him," she added, quickly, as Loudon half +turned. "He'd probably deny it." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, what's the use, Kate?" exclaimed Loudon, impatiently. "If Rudd +had stolen my hoss or done somethin' special to me I'd let him go to +oblige yuh, but it's Scotty has the say. His hosses was stole. An' +I'm workin' for Scotty. Can't yuh see how it is?" +</P> + +<P> +"I see that you intend to deny my request," Kate said, her black eyes +fixed unwaveringly on Loudon's gray ones. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got to." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well. But suppose we have Rudd come here a moment. I'd like you +to hear what he has to say. Oh, I'll make him talk." +</P> + +<P> +"But——" +</P> + +<P> +"Good heavens! You're not going to refuse me this little favour, are +you? Rudd's a prisoner. He can't get away. Call him over, and +afterward if you intend to hold him there's nothing to prevent you." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon shouted to Laguerre. Rudd, his arms still elevated, walked +toward them slowly. Loudon kept him covered. Kate dismounted, leaving +the reins on her horse's neck. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom," said she, "give me that money, please. I'd like to give it to +him myself." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon handed her the handkerchief. Kate took it and leaned against +her horse's shoulder. One arm was flung across the saddle. Rudd +halted in front of Loudon. Kate, holding the horse by the bit, stepped +forward and stood beside Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Here he is," said Loudon. "What——" +</P> + +<P> +With surprising agility Kate whirled, seized Loudon's gun hand in a +desperate grip and jammed her thumb down between the hammer and the +firing-pin. Her left arm encircled his waist, and her head was twisted +sidewise under his chin. +</P> + +<P> +"Run!" she panted. "My horse! The money's in the saddle-pocket!" +</P> + +<P> +Kate hardly needed to speak. Rudd had leaped the instant Loudon's +six-shooter was deflected. Before the word "saddle-pocket" had passed +Kate's lips Rudd was in the black's saddle, and the animal was +thundering away at a furious gallop. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, straining to break the girl's hold without hurting her, failed +lamentably. The two struggling figures swayed to and fro, Kate, her +teeth set, hanging on like a bulldog. Loudon's muscles suddenly +relaxed. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," he said, "he's out o' range." +</P> + +<P> +Kate loosened her hold on his waist and endeavoured to draw back. But +her right hand was fast. +</P> + +<P> +"You pulled the trigger, Tom," said she, calmly. "My thumb's caught." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon raised the hammer, and the hand fell away. The tender flesh of +the thumb was cruelly torn. The blood dripped on the grass. Loudon +holstered his six-shooter. +</P> + +<P> +"Gimme yore hand," ordered Loudon, roughly. +</P> + +<P> +He lifted her hand, placed her thumb to his lips, and sucked the wound +clean. Kate watched him in silence. When the edges of the torn flesh +were white and puckery Loudon cut away part of Kate's sleeve and made a +bandage of the fabric. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess yuh'll be all right now," he said. "But yuh hadn't ought to 'a' +done a fool trick like that. Yuh might 'a' got lockjaw." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," Kate said, white-lipped. "Why—why don't you give me fits +for—for helping him to escape?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's done," Loudon replied, simply. "Yuh had yore reasons, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I had my reasons." Kate's tone was lifeless. +</P> + +<P> +Without another word they walked back to where Laguerre stood beside +the sumac bushes. The half-breed's face was impassive, but there was a +slight twinkle in his eye as he threw a quick look at Kate. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll be leavin' us now, Miss Saltoun," observed Loudon, coldly. +"I'll get yuh Rudd's pony." +</P> + +<P> +Silently he led forward Rudd's rawboned cayuse and held him while Kate +mounted. She settled her feet in the stirrups and picked up the reins. +She met Loudon's gaze bravely, but her eyes were shining with unshed +tears. Kate slid her tongue across the edges of her dry lips. She +tried to speak, but could not. She bowed her head and touched her +horse with the spur. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's yore hoss, Marvin?" inquired Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Over behind the ridge in a gully," replied Marvin. "What yuh goin' to +do with me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hang yuh—in time." +</P> + +<P> +"What for?" +</P> + +<P> +"For bein' too active, Marvin, an' for pickin' the wrong friends. Yuh +see, Marvin, we've caught Bill Archer an' the Maxson boys, an' the +hosses are waitin' for Scotty in Cram an' Docket's corrals in Piegan +City. Shorty Simms has cashed. Rudd's wandered, an' now we've caught +you. We're sort o' whittlin' yuh down like. When Scotty comes we'll +get the rest o' yuh. Yuh see, Marvin, yuh hadn't ought to 'a' used +Bill Archer. He talks when he's drunk." +</P> + +<P> +To this statement Marvin immediately attributed the most sinister +meaning even as Loudon intended he should. Wherein he had failed with +Archer, Loudon hoped to succeed with Marvin. The latter, given time to +consider impending death might, if promised immunity, talk freely. +</P> + +<P> +"Where we goin' now?" Marvin inquired, uneasily. +</P> + +<P> +"To the Cross-in-a-box," replied Loudon, strapping on Rudd's +cartridge-belt—Laguerre was wearing Marvin's. "I want Jack Richie to +see yuh. An' don't get talkative about how Rudd got away. I tell yuh +flat if yuh open yore mouth about that lady yuh'll be committin' +suicide." +</P> + +<P> +"Dat ees right," declared Laguerre, staring fixedly at the range-boss. +"Only you un Rudd was here. I see nobody else." +</P> + +<P> +"You hear, Marvin," Loudon said, grimly. "Now stick yore hands behind +yore back. I'm goin' to tie 'em up." +</P> + +<P> +Marvin swore—and obeyed. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't tie 'em so tight," he entreated. +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're too slippery to take chances on," retorted Loudon. "Seen the +sheriff lately?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't seen him for a month." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're a cheerful liar. Still it don't matter much. He'll be gathered +in with the rest o' you murderers when the time comes. They say +hangin's an easy death—like drownin'. Djever think of it, Marvin?" +</P> + +<P> +That luckless wight swore again. Black gloom rode his soul. +</P> + +<P> +"All set," announced Loudon. "C'mon." +</P> + +<P> +The three plodded up the slope of the ridge. When Loudon's head rose +above the crest he saw to his intense disgust that six horsemen were +picturesquely grouped about Brown Jug and the gray. The six were +staring in various directions. Two were gazing directly at the three +on the ridge. Loudon and Laguerre, forgetting their charge for the +moment, flung themselves down. +</P> + +<P> +Promptly the six men tumbled out of their saddles and began to work +their Winchesters. Loudon, aiming with care, sent an accurate bullet +through a man's leg. Laguerre dropped a horse. +</P> + +<P> +Then Loudon, mindful of the prisoner, looked over his shoulder. +Marvin, running like a frightened goat, was half-way to the shelter of +the sumacs. +</P> + +<P> +"Blow —— out of 'em, Telescope!" cried Loudon. "I got to get Marvin!" +</P> + +<P> +He rolled a few yards down the slope and knelt on one knee. He dropped +two bullets in quick succession in front of Marvin's flying feet. +</P> + +<P> +"C'mon back!" he shouted. "The next one goes plumb centre!" +</P> + +<P> +Marvin halted. He returned slowly. Loudon, watching him, became aware +that Laguerre's rifle was silent. He glanced quickly around. +Laguerre, with his skinning-knife, was picking frantically at a jammed +cartridge. At his feet lay Marvin's rifle, the lever half down, and +the bullet end of a cartridge protruding from the breech. Both rifles +had jammed at the crucial moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Take mine," said Loudon, and tossed his rifle to Laguerre. "'Tsall +right, Marvin," he continued in a shout, "Keep a-comin'. I can reach +yuh with a Colt! What yuh cussin' about, Telescope? Mine jam, too?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dem feller pull out," growled Laguerre. "While I was try for feex my +Winchestair dey spleet un go two way. Dey behin' de nex' heel now. +Dey tak' our pony too, —— 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Set us afoot, huh? That's nice. Couldn't have a better place to +surround us in, neither. No cover this side. Let's cross the draw. +There's somethin' that looks like rocks over there." +</P> + +<P> +Driving Marvin ahead of them they crossed the draw at a brisk trot and +climbed the opposite slope. Loudon had not been mistaken. There were +rocks on the ground beyond. From the edge of the draw the land fell +away in a three-mile sweep to the foot of a low hill. Loudon grinned. +</P> + +<P> +"They can't Injun up on us from this side," he said. "We'll stand 'em +off all right." +</P> + +<P> +Swiftly they filled in with rocks the space between two fair-sized +boulders. Then they tied the wretched Marvin's ankles and rolled him +over on his face behind their tiny breastwork. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think any lead'll come through," said Loudon, cheerfully. "It +looks pretty solid. But it would shore be a joke if one o' yore +friend's bullets should sift through yuh, Marvin, now wouldn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +Leaving Marvin to discover, if Providence so willed, the point of the +joke, Loudon picked up his rifle and lay down behind the smallest +boulder. Laguerre, lying on his side, was working at his jammed breech +action. He worried the shell out at last, and took his place. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon saw Laguerre put a small pebble in his mouth, and he frowned. +Not till then had he realized that he was thirsty. He followed +Laguerre's example. Pack-saddle Creek was close by, and it might as +well have been distant a hundred miles. The thought made Loudon twice +as thirsty, in spite of the pebble rolling under his tongue. Far down +the draw, on Loudon's side of the breastwork, two riders appeared. +</P> + +<P> +"Two of 'em in sight, Telescope," said Loudon. "See any?" +</P> + +<P> +"Me, no. What dey do, dem two?" +</P> + +<P> +"They're crossin' the draw. Now they're climbin' up. They think we're +still where we was. Hope they come right along." +</P> + +<P> +The two riders galloped toward the boulders. Loudon and Laguerre, +flattening their bodies, squeezed close to the rock. When the +galloping pair were three quarters of a mile distant they halted. +</P> + +<P> +"They don't just like the looks o' these rocks," observed Loudon. +"Well, they give us credit o' havin' sense, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +The two horsemen began to circle. Loudon settled himself and squinted +along his sights. His finger dragged on the trigger. It was a long +shot, and he missed. The two men immediately separated. One rode back +over the way they had come. The other galloped out a mile and a half, +then turned and rode parallel to the draw. Opposite the rear of the +breastwork he halted. +</P> + +<P> +"How they do think of everythin'," remarked Loudon. "But if they guess +we can't get away to-night they can guess again. I dunno what we'll do +with Marvin. Yo're puttin' us to a heap o' trouble, you are, Mister +Range-Boss. Say, while I think of it, have yuh branded anymore Crossed +Dumbbell cows?" +</P> + +<P> +Marvin was silent. The mocking voice continued: +</P> + +<P> +"That was shore well thought of, Marvin, but yuh was whirlin' too wide +a loop. Instead o' tryin' to make me out a rustler yuh'd ought to 'a' +shot me in the back like yuh did the Sheriff o' Sunset." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't kill him," grunted the stung Marvin. +</P> + +<P> +"I know yuh didn't. When I said you I meant yore outfit. Shorty Simms +pulled the trigger." +</P> + +<P> +"Nothin' to do with me." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe not. We'll see." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh can't prove nothin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Keep on a-thinkin' so if it helps yuh any. Yuh'd ought to know, +Marvin, that in any gang o' thieves there's always one squealer, +sometimes two. In this case, one's enough, but we don't object to +another." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, ——!" grunted Marvin. "Yuh give me a pain." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect. Yuh see, Marvin, a while back yuh accused Rudd o' sellin' +yuh out. Them words have a right innocent sound, ain't they now? +Shore they have. Why, yuh blind fool, do yuh s'pose we'd be a-freezin' +to yuh this way if we didn't have yuh dead to rights?" +</P> + +<P> +Marvin lay very still. He almost appeared not to breathe. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh ain't got out o' this hole yet," he muttered. +</P> + +<P> +"We will, don't yuh worry none about that. An' we'll take yuh with +us—wherever we go. Think it all over, Marvin. I may have something' +to say to yuh later." +</P> + +<P> +<I>Crack</I>! A rifle spoke on the opposite ridge, and a bullet glanced off +Loudon's boulder with a discordant whistle. <I>Crack</I>! <I>Crack</I>! +<I>Crack</I>! Long 45-90 bullets struck the breast-work with sharp +splintering sounds, or ripped overhead, humming shrilly. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's work the old game on 'em," suggested Loudon. "There's room for +two my side." +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre crawled over and lay down beside Loudon. The latter had +aligned several large rocks beside his boulder. Between these rocks +the two thrust the barrels of their rifles. One would fire. On the +heels of the shot an opposing rifle would spit back. Then the other +would fire into the gray of the smoke-cloud. +</P> + +<P> +It is an old trick, well known to the Indian fighters. Loudon and +Laguerre employed it for half an hour. Then the enemy bethought +themselves of it, and Laguerre returned to the other end of the +breastwork with a hole in his hat and his vest neatly ripped down the +back. +</P> + +<P> +The five deputies kept up a dropping fire. But the two behind the +breastwork replied infrequently. Ammunition must be conserved. They +anticipated brisk work after nightfall. They waited, vigorously +chewing pebbles, and becoming thirstier by the minute. The boulders +radiated heat like ovens. +</P> + +<P> +The afternoon lengthened. It was nearing five o'clock when Loudon +suddenly raised his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Where was that rifle?" he inquired, sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Ovair yondair—not on de ridge," replied Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what I thought. Maybe—there she goes again. Two of 'em." +</P> + +<P> +The rifles on the ridge snarled angrily. But no bullets struck the +breastwork. The barking of the deputies' rifles became irregular, +drifted southward, then ceased altogether. A few minutes later five +horsemen and a led horse crossed the draw a mile to the south. +</P> + +<P> +"Two of 'em hit bad," declared Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh bet yuh," said Laguerre. "See dat! One of 'em tumble off." +</P> + +<P> +"They're gettin' him aboard again. Takin' our hosses along, the +skunks! There goes our friend out yonder." +</P> + +<P> +The man who had been watching the rear of the breast-work galloped to +meet his friends. Five minutes later they all disappeared behind one +of the western hills. +</P> + +<P> +"Hey, you fellers!" bawled a voice from the shelter of the ridge across +the valley. "Where are yuh, anyway?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's Red Kane," laughed Loudon, and stood up. "Here we are!" he +yelled. "C'mon over! We're all right. Not a scratch!" +</P> + +<P> +Red Kane and Hockling, leading three horses, appeared on the crest of +the ridge. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SMOKE OF CONFLICT +</H4> + +<P> +"Found him hid right pretty in a gully," said Hockling, indicating the +extra horse. +</P> + +<P> +"Yore hoss, Marvin?" queried Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +Marvin nodded surlily. He had had his share of the water in the +rescuers' canteens, but he was no happier. +</P> + +<P> +"It's shore providential, yore happenin' down this way," said Loudon. +"We'll do as much for you some day." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're welcome, but it ain't none providential, Tom," denied Hockling. +"Me an' Red was fixin' the corral fence at the camp when up come Kate +Saltoun on the jump an' says how yuh was standin' off six men opposite +Box Hill. 'It's them deputies!' shouts Red, an' ropes a hoss +immediate. Well, we come along, the three of us, an' that's all. It +was long range, but I think I drilled one deputy. Red creased one, +too." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh bet I did!" cried Red Kane. "I seen his arm flop when I fired." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that about the three o' yuh comin' along?" said Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Kate, she was with us. She changed her saddle to one of our +fresh hosses. She wouldn't quit nohow till she heard yuh say yuh was +all right. Then she started off home. Funny, she was ridin' a 88 pony +when she struck the line-camp." +</P> + +<P> +"That's odd, but it don't matter none. I'll—I'll see Kate later." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," said Hockling, wondering at the lack of warmth in Loudon's +tone. But Western etiquette forbids the questioning of another's +motives. +</P> + +<P> +"Say," remarked Red, hastening to break the awkward silence, "say, +won't Block feel happy when he finds we've done ventilated his +deputies?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yeah," replied Loudon, "an' the funny part of it is, they ain't got no +right to arrest me. That warrant has been pulled in." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh shore forgot to mention that last night," Hockling said, +disgustedly. "Here Red an' me have been pattin' ourselves on the back +for runnin' a blazer on the law. An' now, come to find out, them +deputies was in the wrong, an' so we only give 'em what was comin' to +'em, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you've got a nerve, you have!" exclaimed the indignant Loudon. +"Do yuh think I'm goin' round dodgin' warrants so you two jiggers can +run blazers on the sheriff?" +</P> + +<P> +He made a swift movement. +</P> + +<P> +"Leggo my legs!" yelled Hockling. "I got on my new pants, an' I don't +want the seat tore out! Hey, yuh idjit! Leggo!" +</P> + +<P> +When order was restored and Hockling was tenderly feeling his precious +trousers, Loudon suggested that Red, the lightest man, take Marvin's +fresh pony and ride to the line-camp for food and two horses. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh'll have yore work cut out," said Red as he mounted, "to ride them +ponies bareback. We ain't even got a extra bridle." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry none," Loudon said. "We'll make bridles an' Injun +surcingles out o' Marvin's rope, an' we'll toss for his saddle." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"How you feel, Tom?" inquired Laguerre, stretched at ease on a cot in +the Cross-in-a-box ranch house. +</P> + +<P> +"Whittled to the chin," replied Loudon. "Which that pony's ridgepole +could give odds to a knife-blade on bein' sharp. We might 'a' knowed +Marvin would win the toss. His own saddle, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Eet ees de las' piece o' luck she weel have for varree long tam." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't so shore about that. There's no real evidence to show that +Marvin's a rustler. 'Ceptin' Rudd, yuh can't connect any of the 88 +outfit with the hoss stealin'. I know they done it. I always knowed +Sam Blakely was at the bottom of it, an' I can't prove it yet. Here's +you an' I rode from hell to breakfast an' back, an' all we've got to +show for it is Archer an' the Maxson boys—an' the hosses, o' course. +Unless I find out somethin' more soon an' sudden, I've got to take off +Marvin's hobbles. My bluff about Bill Archer's blabbin' ain't workin' +with Marvin. He's worried, an' he shows it, but he's standin' pat. I +spent a solid hour with him to-night, an' all he does is cuss an' beef +about what'll happen when Blakely finds out his range-boss has been +kidnapped. It makes me sick!" +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre nodded sympathetically. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh can't tell me," continued Loudon, "that them Marysville sports was +the only ones in the hoss-stealin' deal. If they was, then why was +Pete O'Leary expectin' Sam Blakely the day I struck the Bend, an' why +was Rufe Cutting planted in the cook's job at the Flyin' M? It all +points—so far. An' the rustlin' o' the Bar S an' Cross-in-a-box +cattle—there's another mystery. Oh, it's a great life, this here +detective business!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tell you w'at, Tom," Laguerre suggested, hopefully, "you un me, huh, +we weel bushwhack dees Blak'lee feller. W'at you say?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't be did, Telescope. We've got to get him the right way, so the +folks o' Sunset an' Fort Creek'll know just why he went. That goes for +his outfit an' Block an' his deputies, too. They're all in it up to +their belts. They've made Fort Creek County what it is—a place where +a straight gent has to watch himself an' what's around him all the +time. Shorty Simms killed the Sheriff o' Sunset, but Blakely an' the +88 made the killin' possible. Oh, what's the use? I'm goin' to sleep." +</P> + +<P> +But Loudon did not go to sleep at once. He had too much on his mind. +From Blakely and the 88 his perplexed thoughts shifted to Kate Saltoun +and the sinful ease with which she had made a fool of him; he had +trusted her, and she had betrayed him. The daughter of a ranchman, she +had flouted the law of the range. Given the thief money, too. It was +almost incredible. +</P> + +<P> +Idiot that he was, to believe for an instant that she loved him! +Knowing her of old, it served him right, he told himself. He thanked +Heaven that he did not love her, had not loved her since that day in +the Bar S kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +Quite naturally then, since he was so absolutely sure of himself and +his emotions, he wondered how Rudd had had the luck to save Kate's +life. He wished that it had been himself, in order that he might have +made some small return for services rendered. +</P> + +<P> +She had done a great deal for him at the Bend. She had simplified a +most complex situation by bringing to his assistance Hockling and Red +Kane. He undoubtedly owed a lot to Kate. Nevertheless, he assured +himself that her conduct in the matter of Rudd's escape had squared the +account. Of course it had. And he was glad of it. For, under the +circumstances, he would never have to see her again. The Spinning +Sister heard, and smiled—and Loudon fell asleep. +</P> + +<P> +"Hey, Tom! Wake up!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Jack Richie's voice that shouted, and it was Jack Richie's hand +that shook Loudon awake. +</P> + +<P> +"Whatsa matter?" Loudon opened sleepy eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Yore hoss is outside. Yore hoss, Ranger, an'——" +</P> + +<P> +Jack Richie was almost overset by the blanket-shedding cyclone that +whirled out of bed and through the doorway. In front of the ranch +house stood Ranger, surrounded by Richie's amazed and conjecturing +cowboys. The horse raised his wise head, cocked his ears, and nickered +softly at Loudon's approach. +</P> + +<P> +"It's him," grinned Loudon. "It's the little hoss. Well, fellah, you +old tiger-eye!" +</P> + +<P> +He rubbed the white spot on Ranger's nose. The horse nipped his +fingers with soft lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Found him tied to the post out back o' the wagon shed," volunteered +the cook. "I thought I was seein' things." +</P> + +<P> +"Funny he didn't whinner," said Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"There was a flour-sack over his head," explained the cook. "Here it +is." +</P> + +<P> +"That don't tell me nothin'," Loudon said. "Everybody uses Triple X. +An' that hackamore could be just anybody's, too. Whoever brought him +shore walked in the water." +</P> + +<P> +"It ain't likely possible now," observed Jack Richie, "that Rufe +Cutting could 'a' got religion or somethin'." +</P> + +<P> +"It's possible, but it ain't likely," said Loudon. "Well, fellah, +c'mon an' get yuh a drink, an' then for the big feed. Yo're gone off a +good forty pounds since yuh quit me." +</P> + +<P> +Later, Loudon, in company with Laguerre, visited the post where Ranger +had been tied. Laguerre closely scrutinized the ground in the vicinity. +</P> + +<P> +"Hoss she been tied up six-seven hour," observed Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +"It's 'bout half-past five now. That makes it ten or eleven when he +was brought in." +</P> + +<P> +"'Bout dat. Feller lead heem een. Hard to read de sign on de grass, +but eet look lak de feller not walk good een hees boot—dey too beeg, +mabbeso. Come 'long. We weel see w'ere feller she leave hees hoss." +</P> + +<P> +They followed the trail a hundred yards, and then Laguerre knelt down, +his eyes searching the grass. He picked up a small stone and held it +up. The stone was sharp-cornered. It was stained a dark red. +</P> + +<P> +"Feller she treep un fall on hees han's un knees," explained Laguerre. +"Lef han' heet de leetle rock, un geet cut some. Han' bleed on eet." +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre rose, tossed away the stone, and proceeded to follow the +trail. He led the way to a tall pine some three hundred yards distant +from the ranch house. Even Loudon's unpractised eyes told him that a +horse had stood beneath the pine. +</P> + +<P> +"Here feller she climb een de saddle un go 'way," said Laguerre. "No +use follow de trail any more." +</P> + +<P> +They returned to the ranch house, Loudon wondering greatly as to the +identity of the mysterious philanthropist. In Cow Land a stolen horse +is not returned except under compulsion. While they were at dinner the +cook stuck his head through the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"Bunch o' riders a-comin' from the north," he announced, "an' they're +a-comin' some swift." +</P> + +<P> +"Scotty!" exclaimed Loudon, and ran to the window. +</P> + +<P> +"It may be the sheriff," said Jack Richie, hastening to provide himself +with a Winchester. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Scotty," Loudon said. "I can tell him a mile off. He's wearin' +the same shirt, red sleeve an' all." +</P> + +<P> +The horsemen, some thirty men, rode up at an easy lope. Besides +Scotty, Loudon recognized Doubleday, Johnny Ramsay, Chuck Morgan, Swing +Tunstall, Giant Morton, Ragsdale, and many others. +</P> + +<P> +"He's brought the whole ranch an' half the Bend," chuckled Loudon, and +then swore gently, because he suddenly remembered that there was no +evidence against Blakely. +</P> + +<P> +With thirty men the 88 could be shown the error of its ways most +effectually. And now the thirty could not be used. What a waste of +good material! +</P> + +<P> +The band of horsemen, bawling greetings to the group in the doorway, +jingled to a halt. Loudon stepped forward and shook Scotty's proffered +hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh've sure done fine," said Scotty. "Yuh've filled out just what I +said 'bout opportunity with a big O. I ain't forgettin' it, neither. +Besides Rudd now, did yuh run across anythin' touchin' Sam Blakely?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a thing," Loudon replied, "an it's no use a-goin' out to the 88 +lookin' for Rudd. He's sloped. My fault he got away, too." +</P> + +<P> +"That's tough, but it don't matter a heap. Yuh found the hosses an' +three o' the thieves, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"Yeah, but they ain't enough. We'd ought to get 'em all, an' as far's +I can see there ain't no chance o' gettin' 'em all." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't yuh care. What yuh've done suits me. I'm satisfied." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't," said Loudon, "but I s'pose I've got to be. It makes me +sick! Lot o' work gone for nothin'. We grabbed the 88 range-boss on +the off-chance he'd chatter, but he won't say a word. He's tied up in +Jack Richie's storeroom right now." +</P> + +<P> +"Blakely's range-boss, huh? Well, yuh can't hang him without proof, +Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"I know that. Got to turn him loose, o' course. Did yuh see anythin' +o' Block or Blakely or that gang when yuh come through Farewell?" +</P> + +<P> +"We didn't strike Farewell. We rode here the shortest way. +Why—what's the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +For Loudon had ripped out an amazed oath. +</P> + +<P> +"Yore rope!" exclaimed Loudon. "Where did yuh get that rope?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Doubleday found it down by the little corral the mornin' after him +an' the boys rode in from the Bend—after them hosses was stole." +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't yuh tell me about it then? That rope was all I needed. +Say, Johnny, djever see this rope before?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon held up the end of the rope. The holdfast was missing, and the +end had been lapped with many turns of whip-cord. Johnny squinted at +the rope's end. Jack Richie and the others crowded in. +</P> + +<P> +"Yeah," said Johnny Ramsay, "now I think of it, you an' me was in Mike +Flynn's store in Farewell when Sam Blakely bought him that rope with +the whip-cord on the end. That was the day you bought a green necktie. +Shore, I remember. Blakely he asked Mike what that whip-cord was, an' +Mike called it whippin'." +</P> + +<P> +"That's what he did," declared Loudon. "I noticed this whippin' jigger +special, an' I can swear to it on a stack o' Bibles a mile high. It's +the same rope all right enough." +</P> + +<P> +Scotty observed that he would be consigned to everlasting damnation. +Ropes, he had supposed, were all alike. +</P> + +<P> +"I knowed that rope must 'a' belonged to one o' the rustlers," said +Scotty, "but it was such a little thing that I'd forgot all about it by +the time you got back to the ranch, Tom. Blakely's rope! It's shore +amazin'." +</P> + +<P> +"It sort o' settles the cat-hop, don't it?" said Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Kind o'," Scotty said, his frosty blue eyes gleaming. "We'll wander +over to the 88 right away. I guess now we'll leave Marvin tied up yet +awhile. We'll attend to him later. Can yuh give us fresh hosses, +Jack?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can I?" exclaimed Jack Richie. "Watch me. I guess me an' a few o' +the boys will ride along with yuh. Just to see fair play like." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Scotty," Loudon said, while the fresh horses were being roped, "I +hope Pete O'Leary didn't see you an' the bunch leavin' the Bend." +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't," replied Scotty. "O'Leary ain't with us no more—No, not +that way. He's alive yet so far as I know. But he pulled his freight +some sudden 'bout two weeks ago. Dunno why." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe we'll see his smilin' face again pretty soon," Loudon observed, +significantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Then here's hopin' it'll be in bad company," said Scotty Mackenzie. +</P> + +<P> +An hour later the band, now numbering forty-two men, started for the 88 +ranch. They rode northwest, intending to pass through Farewell, for it +was quite possible that Brown Jug and the gray had been taken into town. +</P> + +<P> +As they neared the town a rattle of shots came down the wind. With one +accord the forty-two drove the spurs into their mounts. +</P> + +<P> +At the top of the slight rise above the little town they halted. The +windows of Bill Lainey's hotel and Piney Jackson's blacksmith shop were +banked in drifting smoke through which red tongues of flame flashed at +intervals. From the cover of boulders, wagon-bodies, the hotel corral, +and the Happy Heart Saloon, rule-working citizens were pouring lead +into the two places. Farther up the street several Winchesters in the +Blue Pigeon Store were replying to the fire from the opposite houses +and from a barn in the rear of the store. +</P> + +<P> +"Sheriff Block an' his outfit are lockin' horns with some friends o' +mine, I guess," observed Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"That ain't no way for a sheriff to act," said Scotty. "Let's go down +an' tell him so. Friends o' Tom's, boys." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon was already galloping down the slope. In his wake scattered +hoof-beats became a thuttering drum. Men whooping and yelling, +wild-eyed horses straining every muscle, the charge swept down upon the +besiegers of Lainey's Hotel and Jackson's blacksmith shop. +</P> + +<P> +The sheriff's friends broke like a covey of quail. The rifles in the +hotel and blacksmith shop chattered like mad. Loudon headed toward the +hotel corral to whose shelter two men had retreated. But there was no +one there when he reached it. +</P> + +<P> +He rode past the corral and galloped along the rear of the buildings +fronting on the street. Twice he was shot at, one bullet nicking his +horse's hip. But he contrived to reach the other end of the town +unwounded, raced across the street, and dismounted behind the sheriff's +corral. His feet had barely touched the ground when Johnny Ramsay, +Laguerre, and Chuck Morgan joined him. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh idjit!" cried Johnny. "Don't yuh know no better'n that? Don't +yuh suppose they can hit yuh at twenty yards? Yuh wasn't that far away +from the backs of them houses. Ain't yuh got no sense at all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they didn't hit me, an' I notice three other idjits didn't have +no better sense. Duck!" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon jerked Johnny down just as a bullet gashed the side of a post +above his head. Johnny ceased talking and ran hurriedly to where Chuck +Morgan was kneeling behind a corner of the corral. Loudon joined +Laguerre at the other corner. +</P> + +<P> +The four were in an excellent position. The corral commanded the rear +and one side of the sheriff's shack, the rear of the Happy Heart +Saloon, and one side of the barn in the rear of the Blue Pigeon Store. +</P> + +<P> +A man ran out of the barn. Laguerre's rifle cracked. The man +stumbled, dropped, dragged himself to his hands and knees, and then +huddled down slackly. Laguerre pumped in another cartridge. The +staccato din at the other end of town was increasing. The heavy roars +of several buffalo guns punctuated the steady crackling of the +Winchesters' whip-like reports. Loudon smiled a slow smile and cuddled +his rifle-butt against his shoulder. The world was coming his way at +last. +</P> + +<P> +"That sheriff wouldn't 'a' built his corral so solid," observed Loudon, +"if he'd looked ahead." +</P> + +<P> +"You bet he wouldn'," said Laguerre. "Dees log ees fine. No bullet +come troo dem. Bimeby we geet Meestair Block, mebbeso." +</P> + +<P> +"He may be down in the Happy Heart. There ain't been a shot from the +shack yet. He's in town all right though. His hoss and seven others +are in the corral"—Loudon peered through a crack in the logs—"I can't +see the brands. They're turned the wrong way." +</P> + +<P> +"Dere ees a lot o' pony een dat corral down dere," said Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +"That's behind the Happy Heart Saloon. Lord help 'em if they try to +slide out on 'em." +</P> + +<P> +<I>Zing-g-g</I>! A bullet ricochetted from a near-by boulder and hummed +above Loudon's hat. +</P> + +<P> +"That came from the barn," said Loudon, firing at a gray smoke-cloud +high up on the side of the structure. "They've knocked a hole in a +board, I guess. Yep"—as the thinning smoke revealed a black +opening—"they have." +</P> + +<P> +Shooting carefully and without haste, Loudon and Laguerre rendered +firing from that hole in the barn a case of suicide. From their corner +Johnny Ramsay and Chuck Morgan alternately drove questing bullets into +the barn and the rear of the Happy Heart Saloon. +</P> + +<P> +The firing from the barn slackened. That from the Happy Heart +redoubled in vigour. The glass window-sashes began to fall in tinkling +rain on the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"The boys must 'a' gotten into the houses across the street," said +Loudon. "They're a-firin' right through the saloon." +</P> + +<P> +"She weel be dark een two hour," Laguerre remarked, irrelevantly. +</P> + +<P> +"I know it. We'll have to finish up before then or they'll getaway. +Plug any, Johnny?" +</P> + +<P> +"One," was the laconic reply of that expert with a rifle. +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't, neither!" denied Chuck Morgan. "I got him. Johnny was +loadin' his rifle at the time the feller cashed. Johnny couldn't hit a +flock o' barn doors flyin' low—not with his rifle." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, couldn't I, huh?" yapped Johnny Ramsay. "Well, if I hadn't 'a' +got him you'd be a-lyin' there right quiet an' peaceful with yore hat +over yore face. I hit what I aim at. I ain't been shootin' holes in +boards like some people." +</P> + +<P> +At this juncture the door of the Happy Heart opened a crack, and Johnny +and Chuck forgot their argument at once. The door closed abruptly, the +wood near the knob gashed and scarred by several bullets. +</P> + +<P> +"This is gettin' monotonous," said Loudon. "I thought there'd be +action this side an' there ain't a bit. The barn has gone to sleep. +I'm goin' into the sheriff's shack. I'll bet it's empty." +</P> + +<P> +"Dey geet you from the barn, mabbeso," Laguerre suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"No, they won't—not if yuh keep 'em away from that hole." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon laid his rifle down, pulled his hat firmly over his ears, and +raced toward the shack, jerking out his revolvers as he ran. He +reached the door of the shack without a shot having been fired at him. +</P> + +<P> +Fully aware that death might be awaiting his entry, he drove his +shoulder against the door and burst it open. He sprang across the +doorsill and halted, balancing on the balls of his feet. +</P> + +<P> +Save for the loud ticking of an alarm clock there was no sound in the +shack. The door of the front room stood open. Through the doorway +Loudon glimpsed a broken chair, and beside it, where the floor sagged, +a pool of blood. Loudon walked into the front room. +</P> + +<P> +His eyes beheld a scene of the wildest disorder. There had been a +fierce fight in that front room. On his back on the floor, his legs +under the table, lay Sheriff Block, his black beard reddened with blood +from a wound in the cheek. One hand gripped the butt of a six-shooter +and the other clutched the breast of his flannel shirt. There were two +bullet-holes in the sheriff's chest. +</P> + +<P> +Across the base of the closed front door lay the body of Rufe Cutting. +He had been literally cut to pieces. Only his face was unmarked. +Otherwise he was a ghastly object. From beneath his body oozy runlets +of blood had centred in the pool beside the chair. +</P> + +<P> +Propped up against the side wall, his legs outstretched, sat a +stranger. Blood spotted and stained the floor about him. He had been +shot in the legs and the chest. Across his knees lay a Winchester. +Beside him a long knife, red from hilt to point, was stuck upright in +the floor. The stranger's chin was on his breast, a bloody froth +flecked his lips. So positive was Loudon that the stranger was dead, +that, when the man jerked his head upright, he jumped a full yard +backward. Weakly the wounded man plucked at his Winchester, his dull +eyes fixed on Loudon. The latter ran to his side. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right, stranger," cried Loudon, "I'm a friend." +</P> + +<P> +At this assurance the stranger ceased in his effort to raise his rifle. +</P> + +<P> +"Water," he muttered, faintly, "water." +</P> + +<P> +In a corner stood a bucket and a tin dipper. Loudon scooped up a +dipperful and held it to the man's lips. He drank chokingly, and half +the water spilled out on his shirt. +</P> + +<P> +"Stranger," muttered the wounded man, "I'm goin' away from here in a +hurry. Pull off my boots, will yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon complied with the request. The removal of the boots must have +cruelly hurt the wounded legs, but the man did not even groan. +</P> + +<P> +"That's better," muttered the man, when the boots were off. "I was +hopin' I wouldn't have to cash with 'em on. Who's yore friend?" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon whirled, for his nerves were on edge, and Laguerre, who had +entered without a sound, only saved himself from death by a cat-like +leap to one side. As it was, Loudon's bullet missed him by the veriest +fraction of an inch. Loudon shamefacedly holstered his weapon. +</P> + +<P> +"My fault," said Laguerre, calmly. "Nex' time eet ees bes' I speak +firs', yes. Who ees de man?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno. Who are yuh, stranger?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did yuh kill him?" queried the stranger, his eyes beginning to film +over. +</P> + +<P> +"No, he's a friend, too. Can't yuh tell yore name?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm Tom Hallaway," was the thickly uttered response. "Rufe Cutting +killed my brother Jim an' stole his pinto hoss. Block was with +Cutting, an' helped him. I got 'em both. I said I'd cut Rufe's heart +out—an' I sure—done it. Gimme a—drink." +</P> + +<P> +But before the water came Tom Hallaway's head fell forward, and he died. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here," said Laguerre, who had looked out of the window opposite +Tom Hallaway. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon went to the window. Beneath it two dead men were sprawled. +Their stiffened fingers clutched six-shooters. +</P> + +<P> +"They drilled him through the window," said Loudon, "an' he got 'em +both." +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre nodded solemnly. +</P> + +<P> +"Brave man, dat Tom Hallaway," said Telescope Laguerre. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BEFORE THE DAWN +</H4> + +<P> +The window through which Tom Hallaway had been shot faced the open +country. The other two windows in the room flanked the front door. +The thoughtful Laguerre had brought Loudon's rifle in with him, and the +two men squatted down behind the windows. Their view of Main Street +was excellent. They could see almost the whole width of the street +from one end of the town to the other. +</P> + +<P> +Far down the street the windows of Lainey's Hotel were smoking like the +gunports of an old-time line-o'-battle-ship. The men in the hotel +seemed to be devoting all their attention to the Happy Heart and the +houses between it and Piney Jackson's blacksmith shop. +</P> + +<P> +Directly opposite the Happy Heart was a small store from which three or +four men were directing a heavy fire at the saloon. Next to the store +were four empty corrals, and then came some twenty houses, the +twentieth opposite the sheriff's shack. Of these houses all save the +three nearest the corrals were silent. The folk in these three were +carrying on a duel: with the defenders of the Blue Pigeon Store, whose +fire had slackened somewhat. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope they haven't got Mike," said Loudon, and drove a bullet close +above a window-sill of the middle house of the three. "He's a good +fellah." Another bullet nicked the window-sill. "This can't go on +forever." Again a bullet shaved the window-sill. "Somethin's going' +to pop some soon." +</P> + +<P> +Something did pop. The firing from the Happy Heart culminated in a +terrific volley, and then ceased abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"That's funny," commented Loudon. "It can't—— They're sliding out!" +</P> + +<P> +Which latter remark was called forth by a sudden outburst of firing +from the corral where Johnny and Chuck were stationed. Loudon and +Laguerre ran out the back way. The former's surmise was correct. +</P> + +<P> +The Happy Heart defenders had broken cover and reached the big corral +behind the saloon. Four of them were down in front of the corral gate. +They would never pull trigger again. But the others, in number a score +or more, had reached their horses and were pouring out of the gate in +the far side of the corral. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon perceived that the two riders in the lead were mounted on Brown +Jug and the gray. These two kept together. The remaining fugitives +wisely fled separately and in many directions. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon and Laguerre did not fire. The range was a long six hundred +yards; too long for accurate shooting when the target is astride a +racing horse. Imbued with the same idea they ran to their horses, +flipped the reins over their heads, and jammed their Winchesters into +the scabbards. Both ponies were galloping at full speed when the two +were settled in their saddles. +</P> + +<P> +"We can not catch dem!" cried Laguerre ten minutes later. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll try, anyhow," replied Loudon, standing up in the stirrups to +ease his horse, and wishing that he had ridden Ranger. +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later it became obvious that pursuit was useless. Brown +Jug and the gray had the legs of the pursuer's horses. The sun was +setting, too. Loudon and Laguerre pulled in their panting mounts. +</P> + +<P> +"Here comes Johnny an' Chuck," said Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Could yuh tell who they was?" demanded Johnny, breathlessly. +</P> + +<P> +"They kept their backs to us," Loudon replied, drily, "an' they didn't +leave any cards." +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't got no manners at all," said Johnny Ramsay. "They're headin' +northwest, an' they shore ought to get there. C'mon back, I'm dry." +</P> + +<P> +"They was seven 88 ponies in Block's corral," said Chuck Morgan. +"Let's hurry. Maybe we can get the owners yet." +</P> + +<P> +"If they ain't already been got," said Johnny Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +"Seven 88 ponies," repeated Loudon. "I seen 'em in the corral, but I +couldn't see the brand. Seven. That means seven o' the outfit was in +Farewell, an' more'n seven, maybe. I don't believe Blakely was there. +He's been mighty cautious lately. Well, anyhow, countin' seven at +Farewell, there'd ought to be eight more at the four line-camps. +Rudd's quit, an' Marvin is hogtied, an' Shorty Simms is dead. +Accordin' to my figurin', that makes eighteen." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're well educated, Mr. Loudon," said Johnny Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +"Correct. Well, then, unless Blakely has hired a bunch o' new men, +which ain't likely, then eighteen from twenty-five leaves seven." +</P> + +<P> +"First class in 'rithmetic will take the front seats," remarked Chuck, +solemnly. "The little boys mustn't sit with the little girls. +Attention, children, an' I'll interduce our new teacher, Mr. Thomas +Loudon, a well-known—— Hi! you leave my cayuse alone, Tom! I'm the +only gent he allows to spur him. Damitall, he's goin' to buck, an' I'm +all het up, anyhow. Oh, ——! I knowed it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Chuck ought to ride pitchers for a livin'," commented Loudon. "Ain't +he graceful? Go yuh ten, Telescope, he pulls leather." +</P> + +<P> +Chuck returned to them ten minutes later. He sidled his now thoroughly +chastened pony in between Ramsay and Laguerre. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll have nothin' more to do with that long-legged feller on the left +o' the line," Chuck announced to the world at large. "He'd just as +soon break a friend's neck as not. He ain't got no feelin's whatever. +'Rithmetic's done locoed him." +</P> + +<P> +"As I was sayin' before I was interrupted," said Loudon, grinning, +"eighteen from twenty-five leaves seven. There oughtn't to be more'n +seven men at the 88 ranch house an' they won't be expectin' callers. +There's four of us. What's the answer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dat ees fine," Laguerre said. "We weel geet dere before Scotty un de +odders come. I say we go." +</P> + +<P> +"Me, too," said Johnny Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +"But no more 'rithmetic!" Chuck Morgan cried in mock alarm. "It shore +makes my head ache, 'rithmetic does." +</P> + +<P> +They swung away from Farewell and entered a long draw, dark with the +purple shadows of the twilight. +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't there nobody at all in Block's shack?" queried Johnny Ramsay, +rolling a cigarette one-handed. +</P> + +<P> +"Three," replied Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Huh!" Johnny Ramsay was startled. +</P> + +<P> +"Two was dead an' the third was dyin'," explained Loudon. "He cashed +before we come out. His name was Tom Hallaway. You remember about +Cutting stealin' my hoss. Well, him an' Block turned up in Rocket, an' +Cutting was ridin' a blaze-face pinto. Come to find out, the pinto +belonged to a fellah named Jim Hallaway, an' Jim was found murdered. +The way I figure it: Cutting knowed better'n to ride in on my hoss, so +he killed Jim an' took his pony, leavin' my hoss back in the hills +some'ers. Later he went back after Ranger, an' sloped with the pair. +</P> + +<P> +"This Tom Hallaway was Jim's brother. The two dead men in the shack +was the sheriff an' Cutting. Yeah, Rufe Cutting. It'd been better for +him if he'd gone south like the sheriff said he did. Rufe was carved +up tremendous, an' Block had been plugged three times. Hallaway got +'em both. Two o' the Farewell boys got him though—through the window. +But they didn't live long enough to tell about it. He got them plumb +centre. Yep, four was Hallaway's tally. He shore paid 'em in full for +killin' Jim." +</P> + +<P> +"Which I should say as much," murmured Chuck Morgan, admiringly. "He +was some man!" +</P> + +<P> +"An' he had to die," said Loudon. "All on account o' them measly +skunks. Well, by the time Scotty an' that crowd get through with +Farewell a Sunday-school won't be in it with the town." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're whistlin'," said Johnny Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +The four pushed their mounts almost to the limit of their strength. At +three in the morning they dismounted in a grove of singing pines. The +88 ranch buildings were a bare quarter-mile distant. +</P> + +<P> +They tied their horses and went forward on foot. Their plan was to +enter the ranch house and take Blakely prisoner while he slept. It was +a sufficiently foolhardy proceeding, for Blakely was known to be a +light sleeper. And there might be more than seven men in the +bunkhouse. If the scheme miscarried, and Blakely should give the +alarm—— But the four men wasted little thought on that contingency. +</P> + +<P> +Silently they approached the dark blots that were the ranch buildings. +Foot by foot they edged along between the two corrals. +</P> + +<P> +At the blacksmith shop they halted. To the right, and fifty or sixty +yards away, was the bunkhouse. In front of them stretched the square +shape of the ranch house. Loudon sat down and pulled off his boots. +The others followed his example. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm goin' down to the bunkhouse first," Loudon whispered. "I can tell +by the snores, maybe, how many we've got to count in." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon slid silently toward the bunkhouse. In ten minutes he was back. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a snore," he whispered. "I listened at each window. There ain't +a sound in that bunkhouse. If the boys are gone, then Blakely's gone. +There's only one window open in the ranch house. I didn't hear nothin' +there, either." +</P> + +<P> +Leaving Johnny on guard at the back door, Loudon and the others tiptoed +around the ranch house. They leaned their rifles against the wall +beside the door and Loudon laid his hand on the latch. Slowly he +lifted the latch and slowly, very slowly, so that it would not creak, +he pushed the door open. Once inside they halted, nerves a-stretch, +and ears straining to catch the slightest sound. But there was no +sound. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon knew that there were three rooms, an office, and a wide hall in +the ranch house, but where Blakely was in the habit of sleeping he did +not know. While Laguerre and Chuck Morgan remained in the hall, Loudon +felt his way from room to room. +</P> + +<P> +Still hearing no sound he grew bolder and struck a match. He found +himself in the office. In company with the others he visited every +room in turn. Each was empty. In one room the flickering matchlight +revealed a bed. The blankets were tumbled. An alarm clock hanging on +a nail above the bed had stopped at half-past two. +</P> + +<P> +"Blakely left yesterday, all right," said Loudon. "It takes a day an' +a half for them clocks to run down. Guess he must 'a' been at Farewell +after all." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe some o'the boys got him," Chuck said, hopefully. +</P> + +<P> +"No such luck." +</P> + +<P> +The match went out, and Loudon scratched another, intending to light a +lamp. +</P> + +<P> +"Put out that light!" came in a hoarse whisper from the back door. +"Somebody's a-comin'." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon crushed the match between his fingers and hurried to the back +door. Laguerre and Chuck crowded against him. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen!" commanded Johnny Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +"Sounds like two horses," said Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Comin' the way we come," growled Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +The hoof-beats, at first a mere ripple of distant sound, grew louder +rapidly. +</P> + +<P> +"If they're comin' here, they'll come in the ranch house, shore," said +Loudon. "They're only two, so they must be a couple o' the 88. We'll +take 'em alive. Telescope, you an' Chuck take this door, an' Johnny +an' I'll take the front. If they come yore way bend yore guns over +their heads. Don't shoot till yuh know who they are for shore. It's +just possible they may be friends." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon and Johnny Ramsay ran through the hall, brought in the rifles, +and closed the front door. Side by side they waited. The door was +poorly hung. Through the cracks they could hear quite plainly the drum +of the galloping horses' feet. Suddenly a horse neighed shrilly. +</P> + +<P> +"Our hosses in the grove!" breathed Loudon. "I forgot 'em, an'——" +</P> + +<P> +But the approaching horsemen did not halt. As they came closer Loudon +heard one call to the other and the latter make a reply, but the words +were unintelligible. They were still talking when they pulled up in +front of the ranch-house door. +</P> + +<P> +"I tell yuh I don't like that whinnerin'!" one man was insisting, +angrily. "Maybe, now——" +</P> + +<P> +"Gittin' scared, huh!" sneered the other. "It's just some o' our +hosses strayed. They often go over in that bunch o' pines. You take +the hosses down to the corral, Pete, an' change the saddles, an' I'll +rustle us some grub an' the cartridges. Skip now!" +</P> + +<P> +The speaker lifted the door latch. The door crashed open. A boot +scuffed the doorsill. The heavy barrel of Loudon's six-shooter smashed +down across hat and hair with a crunch. +</P> + +<P> +Even as the man dropped, Loudon, taking no chances, flung his arms +around the falling body and went down with it. Johnny Ramsay, drawing +his own conclusions as to the friendliness of the man with the horses, +sprang through the doorway, his six-shooter spitting. In mid-leap he +checked and fell flat, his six-shooter flying from his hand. He was up +in an instant and feeling about for his gun. Panting and swearing, for +in his ears was the tuckle-tuck-tuckle-tuck of a furiously ridden +horse, he found his six-shooter at last. +</P> + +<P> +"Deed you heet heem?" called Laguerre from the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not," replied Johnny. "Leastwise he didn't wait to tell me. If +I hadn't tripped over somebody's feet an' lost my gun in the shuffle, +I'd have got him all right. He wasn't five yards away. By the time I +got hold o' the gun he was over the hills an' far away, so far as +hittin' him was concerned. He left the other sport's hoss, though." +</P> + +<P> +Johnny went up to the horse, a big light-coloured animal, and flung its +dragging rein over a post near the door. The horse stood quietly, legs +spread, breathing heavily. +</P> + +<P> +"Hey!" bawled Loudon. "Somebody gimme a match! I can't find mine, an' +I want to look at Blakely!" +</P> + +<P> +"So eet ees Blakely," said Laguerre. "I deed not know." +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," Loudon said, "I knowed both voices instanter. The other party +was that Paradise Bender named Pete O'Leary. Ain't anybody got a +match?" +</P> + +<P> +Johnny Ramsay pulled a match out of his hat-band and scratched it. He +held the flame above the face of the unconscious man on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Blakely. No mistake about that," said Loudon in a tone of great +satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +A guttural exclamation from Laguerre drew Loudon's eyes to the +half-breed. Laguerre was bending forward, his eyes fixed in a terrible +glare on the face of Blakely. Laguerre's lips writhed open. His teeth +were bared to the gum. His countenance was a mask of relentless hate. +</P> + +<P> +"Pony George!" almost whispered Laguerre. "At las'!" +</P> + +<P> +The match went out. +</P> + +<P> +"Gimme them matches!" exclaimed Loudon, harshly. +</P> + +<P> +He went into the office, found a lamp and lit it. He carried it into +the hall and placed it on a chair. Laguerre had squatted down on his +heels. His eyes, now mere slits, were still fixed on Blakely. Johnny +Ramsay and Chuck Morgan covertly watched Laguerre. They did not +understand. Laguerre's head pivoted suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Dat man ees mine," he said, staring at Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course. Yuh don't need to say nothin' more, Telescope." +</P> + +<P> +"I weel tell why. Dese odders mus' know. My frien's," the swarthy +face with the terrible eyes turned toward Chuck and Johnny, "my +frien's, long tam ago, ovair eas' on de Sweetwatair, I know dees man. +She was not call Blakely den. Hees name was Taylor—Pony George, dey +call heem. Pony George she keel my wife, my leetle Marie. Feefteen +year I have hunt Pony George. Now I have foun' heem. Un I weel keel +heem, me." +</P> + +<P> +Johnny and Chuck nodded gravely. The primitive code of the broken +lands is bluntly simple. Vengeance was Laguerre's. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +TRAIL'S END +</H4> + +<P> +"Shoot me! Hang me! I don't care. Only don't turn me over to that +devil there. He'll torture me! For God's sake, don't do it! I'll +confess! I'll tell yuh all I ever done. I an' my outfit's been +rustling them cows from the Bar S an' the Cross-in-a-box. We've done +it for years! +</P> + +<P> +"We used to hold the cows in a blind caņon south o' Smoky Peak till the +brands healed. There's more'n a hundred cows there now! They're Hawg +Pen an' Cross-in-a-box an' Bar S cows! An' we rustled Scotty +Mackenzie's hosses while Skinny Maxson o' Marysville toled yuh away up +to Hatchet Creek, an' 'twas me shot Scotty. I'd 'a' done for him only +I thought he was dead. An' I sent Rufe Cutting to the Flying M so he +could help us when the time come! Pete O'Leary the same way! He was +with me to-night. Djuh get him?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, we didn't," replied Loudon. "It's no use a-takin' on thisaway. +We trailed the hosses to Piegan City, an' Archer an' the Maxson boys +are under arrest. Yuh see how it is. We know all about you an' yore +gang. We can't do nothin' for yuh." +</P> + +<P> +"But yuh don't know all I done myself!" Blakely pursued, wildly. "I +tell yuh, I'd ought to be hung! I'd ought to be hung ten times over. +It was me shot Johnny Ramsay that time he found the dead Bar S cow an' +her calf on our range. An' I tried to get you, Loudon, when yuh was +snuffin' 'round that ledge on Pack-saddle where we used to throw the +cows across. An' I thought up that scheme for makin' yuh out a rustler +with them Crossed Dumbbell cows. I done it, I tell yuh! Can't yuh +understand? Hang me! Oh, please hang me, gents!" +</P> + +<P> +Blakely, fairly gibbering with fear, crawled on his knees toward +Loudon. Blakely's hands were bound behind his back. The drying blood +from the scalp wound, inflicted by the barrel of Loudon's six-shooter, +had stiffened his black hair into upstanding matted masses. He was a +wretched spectacle. +</P> + +<P> +"Loudon! Loudon!" shrinked Blakely. "It was me swore out that warrant +for yuh for stealin' the chestnut I sold yuh. I sent the sheriff up +the Bend after yuh, an' I'd 'a' hanged yuu sure as —— if I'd ever +laid hands on yuh. Now hang me! Hang me quick, an' get it over with!" +</P> + +<P> +"Telescope!" exclaimed Loudon, "I guess we'll go down to the corrals." +</P> + +<P> +When Blakely perceived that there was no hope for him, that his was to +be no easy death, he went frantic. Hysteria seized him. He sobbed, +laughed, and uttered the most blood-chilling screams, his body +thrashing about like a shark in its death-throes. +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre, sitting cross-legged on the floor, had been whetting his +skinning-knife on his boot-leg for the past half-hour. Now he held up +the knife and thumbed the broad blade. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon and the others, their eyes lowered, passed out of the ranch +house into the pale light of dawn. The morning star blazed +diamond-bright above the lemon-yellow splendour in the east. A little +wind blew past their faces. The air was fresh with the promise of the +new day. They drew long, grateful breaths and looked from under their +eyebrows at each other. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel sick," Johnny Ramsay said, frankly. +</P> + +<P> +The horse which Johnny had tied to the post had been lying down. It +rose with a heave and a plunge and stood blowing and cracking its +nostrils. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if there ain't Telescope's gray," announced Loudon. "So the +fellahs we chased out o' Farewell was Blakely an' O'Leary after all. +They shore picked the best hosses in the corral when they took Brown +Jug an' the gray. No wonder we couldn't catch 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Yo're right," Johnny and Chuck chorused, loudly. +</P> + +<P> +"Life's a funny thing," Loudon rambled on, speaking quite rapidly. +"Here we run our legs off after them two fellahs, an' they turn 'round +an' come back to us all prompt an' unexpected. I guess I'll water that +hoss an' take his saddle off." +</P> + +<P> +He turned back. The others crawled up on the corral fence. +</P> + +<P> +"Wish I'd thought o' the hoss," grumbled Johnny. "I want somethin' to +do." +</P> + +<P> +With shaking fingers he rolled a cigarette and spilled most of the +tobacco. The clamour within the ranch house suddenly became louder. +</P> + +<P> +"He shore takes it hard," muttered Chuck Morgan, repressing a shudder +with difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon slid around the corner of the ranch house and joined them on the +top rail. +</P> + +<P> +"Thought yuh was goin' to water the hoss," said Chuck. +</P> + +<P> +"Telescope's goin' to use him," said Loudon, and endeavoured to whistle +"The Zebra Dun." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm kind o' glad to know who did plug me that time," remarked Johnny. +</P> + +<P> +"I've always knowed who done it," Loudon said. "I dug a forty-five +bullet out o' Blakely's swell-fork the day we had the run-in at the Bar +S." +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't yuh tell me?" demanded Johnny. +</P> + +<P> +"The bullet wasn't proof, when yuh come right down to it. No use o' +yore lockin' horns with Blakely, anyway. It wouldn't 'a' done no good." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it don't—— Hellenblazes! Hear him yell!" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon began to swear under his breath. A door banged suddenly. +Blakely's insane shrieking abruptly stilled. Soon the three men heard +the trample of the gray's feet. Then, beyond the ranch house, appeared +Laguerre. He was mounted. Face downward across his lap lay Blakely, +gagged with his own holster and silk neckerchief. +</P> + +<P> +Riding at a walk, Laguerre headed toward the grove of singing pines +where they had left their horses. When Brown Jug and his double burden +disappeared among the trees Loudon drew a long breath. +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't in a bit of a hurry for my hoss," he declared. +</P> + +<P> +"Which I should say not!" Johnny Ramsay exclaimed with fervour. +</P> + +<P> +The sun was an hour high when Laguerre loped out of the grove. He was +leading their four horses. They watched him with morbid fascination. +</P> + +<P> +Laguerre rode up to the corral and halted. The gray, hard held, shook +his head. On the right cheek-piece of the horse's bridle a +black-haired scalp flapped soggily. And Laguerre looked up at the +three men on the top rail of the corral. +</P> + +<P> +"No use hangin' round here no more," said Loudon, slipping to the +ground. "Might as well mosey over to that blind caņon south of Smoky +Peak an' see if them cattle really are there." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Three days later Loudon and his comrades, their horses drooping-headed +and heavy-legged, rode into Farewell. Signs of the late skirmish were +plentiful. There was not a whole pane of glass in any of the buildings +which had served as forts; and doors, facades, and window casings were +pock-marked with bullet-holes. +</P> + +<P> +Bill Lainey, consistent always, was dozing under the wooden awning of +his hotel. Awakened, the hotelkeeper solemnly shook hands all around, +and wheezed that it was a fine day. +</P> + +<P> +"Yeah," said Loudon, "the air round these parts does seem clearer a +lot. An' there ain't so many folks on the street, either." +</P> + +<P> +"There won't be for a while," declared Bill Lainey. "We buried +twenty-three gents day before yesterday, hanged twelve up the road a +piece, an' Scotty an' Jack Richie an' that crowd rubbed out nine o' the +boys that slid out o' the Happy Heart over by Dead Horse Spring." +</P> + +<P> +"How many got away?" inquired Johnny Ramsay. +</P> + +<P> +"'Bout twenty—twenty-four maybe," replied the hotel-keeper. "I dunno +for shore. But anyhow the 88 outfit is shot full o' holes. Eleven of +'em cashed here in town, an' seven was got outside o' town. The rest +made it safe, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +"Was they all here before the riot?" queried Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Every last one of 'em, 'ceptin' Rudd an' Marvin. They come in +a-huntin' trouble. They've been sore 'count o' Mike Flynn's sassin' +the sheriff an' darin' him an' the 88 to lock horns with him. Well, +there was a gent in town that day, dunno who he was, but anyhow when +Rufe Cutting went into the sheriff's shack the stranger went in, too. +Oh, you seen the inside o' the shack, did yuh? Well, it was what the +stranger done started things a-rollin'. Two o' the deputies plugged +him through the window, an' the rest of us wouldn't stand no such +actions as that, so we started. Good thing you gents an' Jack Richie +an' the others happened along when yuh did." +</P> + +<P> +"Any of our boys get it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Long Riley an' Masters o' the Cross-in-a-box went out here in town, +an' three fellers, Newhall an' Lane o' Paradise Bend, an' Morton o' the +Flyin' M, in the battle at Dead Horse. Our tally was more. We lost +seven of our best citizens. Four of 'em died right here in my +hotel—two in the dinin' room, one at the door, an' one in the kitchen. +There's quite a jag o' gents nicked an' creased, but the doc says +they'll pull through all right." +</P> + +<P> +"But look here, Bill, has Rufe Cutting been holin' out over at the 88 +right along?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno how long he's been there, Tom, but anyway he rid in with +half-a-dozen o' the 88 'bout two weeks ago, an' he was with 'em when +they all come in for their battle." +</P> + +<P> +"Do yuh remember what Rufe rode for a hoss the first time he come in?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bald-face pinto—both times." +</P> + +<P> +"I was wonderin'," Loudon said. "Yuh see, Bill, Rufe stole my hoss, +Ranger, up in Paradise Bend, an' the mornin' o' the fight here the +little hoss turns up at the Cross-in-a-box. It ain't none likely Rufe +brought him. I'm tryin' to figger out the mystery." +</P> + +<P> +Bill Lainey's fat body shook with laughter. He gripped his sides and +panted for breath. +</P> + +<P> +"That explains it," he wheezed, "It was yore hoss that the 88 was +fussin' round after." +</P> + +<P> +"What are yuh talkin' about?" demanded Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's thisaway, Tom. When Blakely an' his gang come in they +scampered round a-pokin' into every corral in town. Said one o' their +hosses had been stole five days before, an' they was out to find the +pony an' the thief. I didn't pay no attention, 'cept to see they +didn't take one o' my hosses by mistake. Yuh see, I allowed they was +lyin' all along an' just huntin' any old excuse to unhook their +artillery. Yore hoss! Well, if that ain't rich!" +</P> + +<P> +"It must 'a' been my hoss," averred Loudon, solemnly. "I guess now +Rufe might have been anxious to get him back—some." +</P> + +<P> +"Yeah," cut in Johnny Ramsay, "but who stole him from the 88? Guess +the mystery's thicker'n ever, Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like it," agreed Loudon. "Scotty or any of 'em in town now, +Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"Scotty ain't. Him an' the Flyin' M bunch have rode south—Damson, I +heard Mike Flynn say. Jack Richie's around some'ers. Here he comes +now!" +</P> + +<P> +"Which I'd admire to know where you fellers went," exclaimed Jack +Richie, his expression radiating relief. "I was bettin' yuh'd been +bushwhacked, but Scotty he said no, yuh was more likely bushwhackin' +somebody else, an' yuh'd all turn up like plugged dollars bimeby. By +the looks of that led horse Scotty had yuh sized up right. Who'd yuh +gather in?" +</P> + +<P> +"Blakely," Loudon replied, quietly. +</P> + +<P> +At this juncture Richie perceived the scalp on the gray's bridle. +</P> + +<P> +"I see," said Jack Richie. "Run across any one else?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fellah named O'Leary—yuh don't know him. He got away. We was at the +88 at the time. Before—before Blakely went he confessed to a whole +raft o' stuff. We followed up part o' what he said, an' over in a +blind caņon south o' Smoky Peak in the Three Sisters we found a hundred +an' twenty Bar S, Hawg Pen, an' Cross-in-a-box cows. Some o' the +brands was almost healed up, but there was enough that wasn't to tell +where they come from. There wasn't nobody with 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Smoky Peak, huh? Hoofs shaved down or burnt, I s'pose?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shore," replied Loudon. "They won't be able to travel under two +weeks." +</P> + +<P> +"Did yuh tell Old Salt the joyful news—about the cattle?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll send him word." +</P> + +<P> +"He's down at Mike Flynn's now. Go an' make him happy. But first +c'mon in an' irrigate. If we don't do it right away, Johnny'll faint. +His tongue's hangin' out a foot." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll see yuh later. Guess I'd better tell Old Salt first." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon did not feel particularly cheerful as he walked down the street. +His work was done—and well done. His enemies were either no more or +journeying swiftly elsewhere. There was peace for honest men in Fort +Creek County at last. But there was no peace in Loudon's soul. He was +learning for the second time that forgetfulness comes not easily. +</P> + +<P> +In front of the Blue Pigeon Store a buckboard was standing. The rangy +vehicle and its team of ponies struck a chord in Loudon's memory. He +had seen them recently. Where? Idly speculating he entered the Blue +Pigeon. Mr. Saltoun, leaning over the counter, was talking to Mike +Flynn. +</P> + +<P> +"Ahoy, Tom!" bawled Mike Flynn, thrusting forward his immense, freckled +paw. "'Tis a sight for sore eyes yuh are. Glory be, but I thought yuh +kilt!" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun's greeting was less enthusiastic, but it was friendly. +Loudon sat down on the counter and swung his spurred heels. +</P> + +<P> +"About them cattle now," he said, slowly, his eyes fixed on Mr. +Saltoun's face. "Yuh remember I told yuh the 88 was rustlin' 'em?" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"I remember," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Them cows," Loudon said, distinctly, "are in a blind caņon south o' +Smoky Peak, along with Hawg Pen an' Cross-in-a-box cattle. That is, +most of 'em are there. The rest yuh'll have to pick out o' the 88 +herds, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Saltoun's capitulation was instant and handsome. +</P> + +<P> +"You was right!" he exclaimed, warmly, holding out his hand. "You was +right all along. I shore had the 88 sized up wrong, an'"—vigorously +pumping Loudon's hand—"any time yuh want a job there's one at the Bar +S for yuh. Er—my range-boss is quittin' next month. What do yuh say +to his job?" +</P> + +<P> +"Now that's right good hearin'," replied Loudon, "but I guess I'll +stick with the Flyin' M awhile. Thank yuh just as much." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's all right. Any time yuh feel like makin' a change, why, +yuh know where to come. Well, I got to be goin'. Say, Mike, don't +forget to order them collars for my buckboard harness." +</P> + +<P> +"I shore won't. So long." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon followed Mr. Saltoun into the street. +</P> + +<P> +"Somethin' new, ain't it?" queried Loudon, flicking a thumb at the +buckboard. +</P> + +<P> +"Yep," said Mr. Saltoun, gathering up the reins. "Bought team an' all +a month ago from Shaner o' the Three Bars. Got 'em cheap, too. Judge +Allison was after 'em, but I got 'em. Huh? What did yuh say?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't say nothin'. Somethin' stuck in my throat." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, so long, take care o' yoreself." +</P> + +<P> +Loudon stood on the sidewalk gazing after the dwindling buckboard. The +mention of Judge Allison had supplied the missing link in the chain of +memory. He had seen that buckboard, driven by a woman, stop in front +of Judge Allison's house in Marysville, and it had been considerably +less than a month ago. Hence, at the time, the buckboard must have +been the property of Mr. Saltoun. And Kate was the only woman at the +Bar S ranch. The driver must have been Kate Saltoun. Why should Kate +call on Judge Allison? +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Shershay la fam</I>," the Judge had remarked in explanation of his +rather bald espousal of Loudon's cause. "Find the woman." Did the +Judge mean Kate, and was it because of Kate's visit that he had become +Loudon's friend? It did not seem possible, yet, if Kate actually had +pleaded for him it was on a par with her actions in Paradise Bend. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon, pondering the matter, stood quite still, utterly oblivious to +his surroundings. The sudden creak of wheels, a familiar tinny +clatter, and a cry of "Howdy, Tom!" brought him out of his reverie with +a jerk. +</P> + +<P> +He looked up. Ten feet distant, Captain Burr, on the seat of his +peddler's wagon, regarded him with kindly eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Wool-gatherin', Tom?" said the lean little man, waggling his white +beard. "I'm surprised." +</P> + +<P> +"I was just a-wonderin'," Loudon said, forcing a smile, "whether we was +goin' to have rain or not." +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't wondeh," Captain Burr remarked, gravely staring up into +the cloudless blue. "I've just come in from the Bah S," he continued, +abruptly. "Miss Kate has two right soah hands. Right soah, they ah. +I sold the young lady some salve." +</P> + +<P> +"Sore hands," repeated Loudon, stupidly. "Why, I—I heard her thumb +was tore pretty bad, but—but I didn't know both of 'em was hurt." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, the young lady's right thumb has quite a gash, and the palm of +her left hand is cut all the way across. She cut it on a rock!" +</P> + +<P> +"Cut it on a rock?" +</P> + +<P> +"On a rock! She was comin' out o' the house, she said, an' she tripped +on the doorsill an' fell. Fell pretty heavy, Her hand was sho' cut +quite a lot." +</P> + +<P> +"Lemme get this straight. Yuh say she cut her left hand, an' on a +rock?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Tom," said Captain Burr, gently, "that's the how of it." +</P> + +<P> +Without a word Loudon turned and fled. Five minutes later, mounted on +Bill Lainey's toughest horse, he was galloping out of Farewell. Two +miles out he passed Mr. Saltoun. The latter called to him but received +no response save a hand-wave. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," observed Mr. Saltoun, "if he's changed his mind about that job, +he's shore actin' mighty odd." +</P> + +<P> +Within two hours after leaving Farewell Loudon halted his staggering +pony in front of the Bar S ranch house. In the hammock on the porch +sat Kate Saltoun. Her face was rather white, and there were dark +shadows beneath her black eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon sucked in his breath sharply at the sight of the poor, bandaged +hands. Kate sat motionless, her gaze level, her face without +expression. Loudon felt like a stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"Kate," he began, "Kate——" and stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Kate at last, dropping her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Released from the spell of that chill stare, Loudon found his tongue. +</P> + +<P> +"I come to have a little talk with yuh," he said. "Yuh see, I've been +findin' out things lately. You drove over to Marysville an' talked to +Judge Allison on my account, didn't yuh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who told you?" Kate did not raise her head. +</P> + +<P> +"Nobody told me. But I ain't a fool. I seen the Bar S buckboard in +Marysville, an' a woman was drivin', an' the judge said, '<I>Shershay la +fam</I>,' meanin' 'Find the woman.' Well, yo're the woman all right. I +know yuh are. An' that cut left hand yuh didn't get by trippin' over +the doorsill like yuh told Cap'n Burr. Yuh got it by fallin' on a rock +back o' the Cross-in-a-box ranch house after yuh'd tied Ranger to the +post. Yuh can't tell me different. +</P> + +<P> +"Yore cut hand, an' yore knowin' that I'd be at the Cross-in-a-box, an' +the way it was done an' all, makes it certain. Yuh gave me my hoss +back. An' yuh paid Rudd to get him for yuh. Ranger was at the 88 all +right. An' yuh couldn't 'a' got hold o' him 'cept through somebody +like Rudd. No wonder yuh stuck by Rudd! It was the only thing yuh +could do, 'specially when he'd saved yore life, too." +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't save my life. I thought if I told you that he had, you +might let him go. I lied. I'd have told any number of lies to save +him. He was a horse thief, and he and Marvin tried to prove you a +rustler, but he trusted me. You wouldn't take my word when I asked you +to, but Rudd did when he brought me Ranger and I didn't have the full +amount I'd promised him. I told him that I'd bring the money three +days later in the draw where the sumac bushes grow, and he believed me +and he led Ranger all the way to that lonesome spruce grove on Cow +Creek where I wanted to keep the horse till I could return him to you. +After that I couldn't desert Rudd. I couldn't have lived with myself +if I had." +</P> + +<P> +"I know. I should 'a' took yore word, but—well, anyhow, I should 'a' +took it an' let it go at that. I owe everythin' to yuh. Yuh took care +o' me in Paradise Bend. Yuh worked for me, an' it was yore doin' that, +that made findin' Scotty's hosses almost a cinch. Yuh went an' got +Hockling an' Red when the deputies jumped us over near Pack-saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh done it all, you did, an' I'm here to tell yuh I'm a dog, an' I +ain't fit to saddle yore hoss. I can't thank yuh. Thanks don't mean +nothin' 'side o' what yuh done for me. But—but how much besides the +sixty did yuh pay Rudd? I can settle that, anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't matter in the least," said Kate, her eyes still on the +floor. +</P> + +<P> +"It does matter. It matters a lot. I've got to know. I can't——" +</P> + +<P> +"Listen," interrupted Kate, flinging up her head and meeting his gaze +squarely, "I'm going to tell you something. Once upon a time you told +me you loved me. I treated you very badly. Later I was sorry, and I +did everything in my power to make amends. I even told you I loved +you. I loved you with all my heart and soul and body. I could have +made you happy as no other woman on earth could have made you happy. +Well, that's over. I've learned my lesson." +</P> + +<P> +"Kate! Kate! I do love yuh—I do! I do!" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon's hat was under his feet. His long body was trembling. +</P> + +<P> +"You do, do you?" said Kate, her voice icy. "Then perhaps I can make +you suffer as you made me suffer. I don't believe I can, but I'll try. +I don't love you! Do you understand? I don't love you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then—then why did yuh go to the Judge? Why did yuh get my hoss? +Why——" +</P> + +<P> +"Why? Because I wanted you, if such a thing were possible, to go +through life in my debt. You won't forget me now. And I'm glad—glad!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then why did yuh walk in the water if yuh wanted me to know I owed yuh +so much? Why did yuh wear boots too big for yuh to make me think it +was a man brought Ranger to the Cross-in-a-box? Why did yuh go to +Marysville all wrapped up, so nobody'd know yuh? What yuh say don't +hang together." +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't it? I'm sorry. You'd have found out about the Judge and +Ranger before a great while. I'd have seen to it that you did. I +merely didn't care to have you know about these things at the time." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I understand," Loudon muttered. "I'll—I'll send yuh Ranger. +Yuh've done bought him. He's yores. I'll go now." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, don't bother about Ranger—— Look out!" +</P> + +<P> +So engrossed had been the two that neither had heard the gallop of an +approaching horse till it shot around the corner of the house and was +almost upon them. As Kate shrieked her warning she sprang from the +hammock and flung herself in front of Loudon. For the man on the horse +was Pete O'Leary, and he was apparently aiming a six-shooter at Loudon. +</P> + +<P> +"You —— spy!" yelled O'Leary. +</P> + +<P> +Even as O'Leary's six-shooter cracked, Loudon swept Kate to one side +and fired from the hip. O'Leary swayed, dropped his gun, then pitched +forward over his saddle-horn. Loudon ran to him. As he reached +O'Leary the latter rolled over on his back. +</P> + +<P> +"Teach her to spy on my letters!" he gasped. "If it hadn't been for +her I——" +</P> + +<P> +He choked and died. +</P> + +<P> +Loudon thrust his sixshooter into its holster and turned. Kate, her +lips colourless, her eyes dilated, was clinging to one of the porch +uprights. Loudon crossed the intervening space in two leaps. +</P> + +<P> +"Where yuh hit?" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not hit," she replied, shakily. "But—but did he—did you—are +you hurt?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't even creased. Now you go in the house an' stay. Here come +Jimmie an' Rainey. We'll take care o' what's out here." +</P> + +<P> +Obediently Kate went into the house. +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later, in the living room, Loudon found her. She rose +from her chair at his entrance and faced him in silence. The cold, +defiant expression had vanished from her face. In its stead was the +look of a frightened child. Loudon halted within a yard of her. +</P> + +<P> +"Kate," said he, "yuh can say what yuh like about yore reasons for +goin' to Judge Allison an' takin' that night ride to the +Cross-in-a-box, an' I've got to believe yuh. But if yuh don't love me +why did yuh jump in front o' me when O'Leary fired?" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought he was going to shoot you," she replied, forcing herself to +meet his eyes. "I—I didn't know I was the one till I heard him say +so." +</P> + +<P> +"Yuh thought he was goin' to drop me, an' yuh jumped in front o' me; +why?" +</P> + +<P> +Kate's face was upturned. Her lips parted. Her body swayed toward him. +</P> + +<P> +"Take me!" she cried. "Oh, take me!" +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<SPAN STYLE="letter-spacing: 4em">*****</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P> +"Why did yuh say what yuh did about wantin' to make me suffer when yuh +loved me all the time?" +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't help it. I thought I'd lost you, and then you came, +and—and then I wanted to hurt you, and I did. I don't know what I'd +have done if you'd gone away. For I do love you, boy!" +</P> + +<P> +Loudon held her close as the dark head snuggled against his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"I know," said he, soberly. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I've always loved you," murmured Kate, "I must have. I—I +hate myself when I think of—of Blakely. I found out what he was while +he was lying here wounded. He was delirious and he spoke of a woman, +another man's wife, named Marie, down on the Sweetwater. Oh, it was +awful—what he said. I can't tell you. It—it woke me up. Then I +knew what I had lost when you left the ranch. You'll never leave me +again, will you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I won't!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was a large wedding for the Lazy River country. +</P> + +<P> +Scotty Mackenzie privately informed Jack Richie that he didn't know, +the marriage might turn out all right, but Kate was such a good-looker, +and he'd always mistrusted good-lookers himself. +</P> + +<P> +Scotty's pessimism was pardonable. He had lost a good employee, while +Mr. Saltoun was the gainer by an excellent range-boss. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Paradise Bend, by William Patterson White + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARADISE BEND *** + +***** This file should be named 34567-h.htm or 34567-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/5/6/34567/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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